12 Years and Counting: Curiosity on Mars

The NASA Curiosity rover has been exploring Gale Crater on Mars since 2012. Join The Open University’s Professor Susanne Schwenzer to follow Curiosity’s journey from Bradbury Landing to the ascent of Mt. Sharp.

Susanne P. Schwenzer is a Professor of Planetary Mineralogy. Her research focuses on minerals that are forming when water interacts with rock. Sometimes the rock changes in place, sometimes the water dissolves parts of the rock and forms new minerals elsewhere. Her research is directly connected to the Curiosity rover since its landing as she uses data from the chemical and mineralogical investigations the rover is carrying out along its traverse. In addition to studying the effects of hot and cold water on the rocks at Gale, she is also helping to make decisions and put those into plans in her role on the science operations team.