NASA's Curiosity Rover Marks 4000 Days on Mars Despite Wear and Tear, Continues to Provide Insights into Planet's History

Rover maintains 'strong' functioning despite camera issues and wear on drill system and arm joints, recently drilling its 39th sample and uncovering key insights into Mars' ancient climate and mineral composition.

NASA's Curiosity Rover, though designed to last only two years, has recently marked 4000 days on Mars, surviving in the planet's punishingly cold environment filled with dust and radiation.
Despite wear on its drill system, arm joints, and camera issues, Curiosity remains 'strong' and recently drilled its 39th rock sample in the Gale Crater, an area believed to have once been a lake.
The rover is studying the ancient climate of Mars, gradually ascending the base of 3-mile-tall Mount Sharp to capture how the planet's climate changed over time through differed periods of Martian history.
The rover's instruments have identified types of sulfate and carbonate minerals over the past year to provide insights into Mars' historical state. The latest sample was collected from a region nicknamed 'Sequoia,' believed to be enriched in sulfates formed in evaporating salty water.
NASA engineers are working to fix issues with one of Curiosity's main cameras - the 34mm focal length left camera of the Mast Camera, or Mastcam. If unable to fix it, they would have to rely on the higher resolution right Mastcam, which would require taking nine times more images to cover the same area.