Mars rovers give scientists a ground‑level view of the red planet—peek inside their NASA control room

At 7:30 a.m. on a Monday, the first to arrive at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, was the reporter who had been up all night. The Curiosity rover had completed its Martian day and transmitted new data to Earth, where it awaited processing at the lab and in collaboration with global research institutions. Within three hours of the shift starting at 8:15 a.m., engineers and scientists would review the rover's health, analyze the latest science data, and devise commands for the following day.

As project scientist, it was their duty to ensure the mission's scientific goals were met while keeping the rover on track to achieve its objectives. Ashwin Vasavada, the project scientist, guided a tour of Curiosity's view of the Martian surface. The rover's mission was to search for evidence of ancient habitable environments, such as those with liquid water and vital chemicals for life.

Mars' Gale Crater was chosen as the research site, with the rover ascending a 1-kilometer-high sedimentary mountain holding a record of environmental conditions from approximately 3.5 billion years ago.

Evidence suggested ancient lakes and streams once existed, and Curiosity had examined clay-rich mudstone layers that evolved into sandstones containing salty minerals. The presence of organic molecules in the lake sediments indicated potential for life, though confirming this conclusively required bringing the rocks back to Earth laboratories.

During the briefing, the team discussed intriguing findings such as polygon fractures with honeycomb-like textures covering the rover's surroundings. These patterns hinted at ancient drying, thermal cycles, or compression forces. Scientists debated which targets would provide the most valuable information about these polygon formations. Despite a long day of planning and decision-making, Curiosity continued working even on weekends, with engineering teams simulating its movements and preparing for the next set of tasks.