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''Curiosity'' is about twice as long and five times as massive as the [[Spirit rover|''Spirit'']] and [[Opportunity rover|''Opportunity'']] Mars exploration rovers,<ref name="MSLUSAToday">{{cite news |title=Troubles parallel ambitions in NASA Mars project |work=USA Today |url=http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2008-04-13-mars_N.htm |date=April 14, 2008 |accessdate=May 27, 2009 | first=Traci | last=Watson}}</ref> and carries over ten times the mass of scientific instruments.<ref name="Wired-20120625">{{cite web |last=Mann |first=Adam |title=What NASA’s Next Mars Rover Will Discover |url=http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/06/msl-mars-new-discoveries/ |date=June 25, 2012 |publisher=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired Magazine]] |accessdate=June 26, 2012 }}</ref> It successfully carried out a more accurate landing than previous rovers, within a landing ellipse of {{convert|7|by|20|km|mi|abbr=on}},<ref name="Updated landing area">{{cite web|title=NASA Mars Rover Team Aims for Landing Closer to Prime Science Site |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120611.html|publisher=NASA/JPL |accessdate=May 15, 2012 }}</ref> in the [[Aeolis Palus]] region of Gale Crater. This ___location is near the mountain [[Aeolis Mons]] (a.k.a. "Mount Sharp").<ref name="NASA-20120328">{{cite web |last=Agle |first=D. C.|title='Mount Sharp' On Mars Links Geology's Past and Future|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120328.html|date=March 28, 2012 |publisher=[[NASA]] |accessdate=March 31, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Space-20120329">{{cite web |author=Staff |title=NASA's New Mars Rover Will Explore Towering 'Mount Sharp'|url=http://www.space.com/15097-mars-mountain-sharp-curiosity-rover.html|date=March 29, 2012 |publisher=[[Space.com]] |accessdate=March 30, 2012 }}</ref> It is designed to explore for at least 687 Earth days (1 Martian year) over a range of {{convert|5|by|20|km|mi|abbr=on}}.<ref name="MSL-main_page">{{cite web|title=Mars Science Laboratory: Mission |url=http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/|publisher=NASA/JPL |accessdate=March 12, 2010 }}</ref>
The Mars Science Laboratory mission is part of NASA's [[Mars Exploration Program]], a long-term effort for the robotic [[exploration of Mars]], and the project is managed by the [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] of [[California Institute of Technology]]. When MSL was launched, the program's director was [[Doug McCuistion]] of NASA's Planetary Science Division.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/people/profile.cfm?Code=McCuistionD |title=Doug McCuistion|publisher=NASA|accessdate=December 16, 2011}}</ref> The total cost of the MSL project is about US$2.5 billion.<ref>{{cite web|last=Leone|first=Dan|title=Mars Science Lab Needs $44M More To Fly, NASA Audit Finds|url=http://www.spacenews.com/civil/110608-msl-needs-more-nasa-audit.html |date=July 8, 2011 |publisher=Space News International |accessdate=November 26, 2011 }}</ref>
== History ==
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