NASA OFFICIAL COMMEMORATIVE MEDALLION COIN - MARS CURIOSITY ROVER METAL

This medallion was minted with material used during the engineering of the Curiosity, Mars Rover.

Curiosity is a car-sized rover exploring the crater Gale on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission.  Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011, at 15:02 UTC and landed on Aeolis Palus inside Gale on Mars on August 6, 2012, 5:17 UTC.  The Bradbury Landing site was less than 2.4 km from the center of the rover's touchdown target after a 560 million km journey.  The rover's goals include investigating the Martian climate and geology: assessing whether the selected field site inside Gale has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life, including investigation of the role of water; and planetary habitability studies in preparation for human exploration.

In December 2012, Curiosity's two year mission was extended indefinitely, and on August 5, 2019, NASA celebrated the seventh anniversary of the Curiosity rover landing.  The rover is still operational, and as of November 18, 2019 Curiosity has been on Mars for 2,660 days.

This medallion measures approx. 2" and is housed in an acrylic case.  Color:  Antique copper

Front has an image of the Rover with Mars Curiosity landing August 5, 2012

Reverse is printed with an image of NASA with Mars Exploration

This medallion was minted with test metal used during the engineering of Curiosity.