Thirteen Years in the Dust: How a Robot Showed that Mars Was Once Habitable

Ashwin Vasavada describes how the Curiosity rover investigates whether Mars once offered conditions suitable for life. Since arriving in 2012, the rover has climbed a Martian mountain whose layered rocks preserve changes in the planet’s ancient environment. The lecture follows that scientific journey and explains the sophisticated instruments used to study the record. It also examines the operational successes and difficulties behind the Mars Science Laboratory mission and its continuing exploration of planetary habitability.