Scrub through 6 real mission milestones to watch NASA's Curiosity rover move from Bradbury Landing to its most recently reported position on Mount Sharp, with the sol number, date, and distance driven at each stop.
Each stop on the slider is a real, independently published mission milestone - not a smooth simulated drive. Drag to orbit and scroll or pinch to zoom on the scene above.
For a static, sitewide relief map of Mars from real NASA elevation data instead of one rover's route inside one crater, see the Mars Terrain 3D Explorer.
Curiosity Rover Traverse 3D Explorer
This browser explorer replays NASA's Curiosity rover moving through Gale Crater, one real mission milestone at a time, from its 2012 touchdown to its most recently reported position on Mount Sharp.
Curiosity landed at Bradbury Landing inside Gale Crater, a crater about 155 km across, on 2012-08-06. By Sol 669 (2014-06-24) it had completed one full Mars year - 687 Earth days - of surface operations. By Sol 753 (2014-09-19) it had driven nearly 9 km to reach Pahrump Hills, the base of Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons), a mountain that rises about 5.5 km above the crater floor. On Sol 1,750 (2017-07-09) its onboard spectrometers confirmed hematite, an iron-oxide mineral first spotted from orbit, on a ridge later informally named Vera Rubin Ridge; the rover then spent Sol 1,800 to Sol 2,300 (Sept 2017 - Jan 2019) climbing that roughly 6.5 km ridge. As of the most recently reported update (Nov 2025), Curiosity is on Mount Sharp's lower slopes near Gediz Vallis Ridge, in "boxwork"-textured terrain around 4.6°S, 137.4°E, having driven a total of about 36.1 km since landing. These figures come from NASA JPL's Mars Science Laboratory mission pages and NASA Science's published mission maps and progress reports.
- Milestone slider (6 stops) moves the rover along a procedural route through Gale Crater toward Mount Sharp
- Each stop shows its real sol number (where published), date, name, and distance driven since landing (where officially reported)
- A running table lists all 6 milestones at once, with the active one highlighted
- The rover's beacon and the route color mark ground already covered versus milestones still ahead
- Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom
- Runs fully in the browser with the vendored three.js engine - no account, no upload
| Milestone | Sol | Date | Distance driven |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bradbury Landing | 0 | 2012-08-06 | 0 km |
| One Mars year complete | 669 | 2014-06-24 | not officially reported |
| Pahrump Hills (base of Mount Sharp) | 753 | 2014-09-19 | about 9 km |
| Vera Rubin Ridge - hematite confirmed | 1,750 | 2017-07-09 | not officially reported |
| Climbing Vera Rubin Ridge | 1,800-2,300 | 2017-09 to 2019-01 | not officially reported |
| Gediz Vallis Ridge area (most recent report) | not published | 2025-11 | about 36.1 km |
For a static, sitewide relief map built from real NASA MOLA elevation data covering all of Mars rather than one rover's path inside one crater, open the Mars Terrain 3D Explorer.
Everything renders on your device with WebGL. The 3D engine loads once (about 0.7 MB) and is cached.
This is an educational approximation - the crater, mountain, and route are procedural shapes, not a terrain-accurate reconstruction of Gale Crater, and the scene does not interpolate a continuous position between milestones or claim a live rover feed. Each milestone's sol number, date, and description are real and independently published by NASA JPL and NASA Science.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where did Curiosity land?
Curiosity landed at Bradbury Landing inside Gale Crater, a crater about 155 km across, on 2012-08-06.
How far has Curiosity driven?
About 36.1 km total since landing, as most recently reported by NASA JPL.
How tall is Mount Sharp compared to the crater floor?
Aeolis Mons, informally called Mount Sharp, rises about 5.5 km above the crater floor.
What did Curiosity find on Vera Rubin Ridge?
On Sol 1,750 (2017-07-09) its onboard spectrometers confirmed hematite, an iron-oxide mineral first spotted from orbit.
Where is Curiosity now?
As of the most recently reported update (Nov 2025), it is on Mount Sharp's lower slopes near Gediz Vallis Ridge, in "boxwork"-textured terrain around 4.6°S, 137.4°E. This scene shows discrete published milestones, not a live position feed.
Is the on-screen crater and mountain to scale?
No - the crater, mountain, and route are procedural shapes for teaching purposes, not a terrain-accurate reconstruction of Gale Crater. Only the sol numbers, dates, and distances cited in the facts panel are real published figures.
How is this different from the Mars Terrain explorer?
The Mars Terrain 3D Explorer is a static, sitewide relief map of all of Mars built from real NASA elevation data. This page instead replays one real rover's mission-milestone sequence inside one crater.
Where do these figures come from?
NASA JPL's Mars Science Laboratory mission pages and NASA Science's published mission maps and progress reports.