NASA's newest rover, Curiosity, has yet to make its first move on Mars, but scientists said Tuesday they are already mapping out possible driving routes to a Martian mountain.
Since landing in Gale Crater near the equator last week, the nuclear-powered rover has been busy getting a head-to-wheel health checkup while parked. It touched down about eight kilometres from Mount Sharp, where signatures of past water have been spotted at the base.
Its ultimate goal is to scale the lower slopes in search of the chemical building blocks of life to determine whether the environment was favourable for microbial life.
