Curiosity

12 year old Clara Ma flew from Kansas to JPL to meet and sign the next rover that will zoom millions of miles to Mars. The trip is Clara's prize for winning an essay contest in which she named the rover "Curiosity."

• Launch: November 26, 2011 

• Landed: August 5, 2012

• Status: Still Active!

Mission: The history of Martian climate and geology is written in the chemistry and structure of the rocks and soil. Curiosity reads this record by analyzing powdered samples drilled from rocks. It also measures the chemical fingerprints present in different rocks and soils to determine their composition and history, especially their past interactions with water.

The car-size rover is about as tall as a basketball player and uses a 7-foot-long arm to place tools close to rocks selected for study. 

It has tools including 17 cameras, a laser to vaporize and study small pinpoint spots of rocks at a distance, and a drill to collect powdered rock samples.