Mars rover is beat to heck two years after mission began

SLIDESHOW: See the beating the Mars rover has taken with these before and after photos



These before and after images from the Mars rover Curiosity show the wear and tear on the rover since it landed on Mars on Aug. 6, 2012. Each image is labeled with both the Sol day (Martian "date") and the Earth date. Sol 3, Aug. 9. 2012. less SLIDESHOW: See the beating the Mars rover has taken with these before and after photos



These before and after images from the Mars rover Curiosity show the wear and tear on the rover since it landed on Mars on ... more Photo: (NASA / JPL) Photo: (NASA / JPL) Image 1 of / 80 Caption Close Mars rover is beat to heck two years after mission began 1 / 80 Back to Gallery

SLIDESHOW: See the beating the Mars rover has taken with these before and after photos

With wheel damage and a coating of reddish dust, the Mars rover Curiosity is showing some wear and tear.

One of two active rovers, Curiosity landed on Mars on Aug. 6, 2012.

Its wheel damage is the main concern and is more than expected, said Guy Webster, spokesman for the rover project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

"It's a type of terrain that wasn't anticipated, with sharp embedded rocks that don't push out of the way when you roll past them," Webster said Friday. "There have been various corrective and avoidance strategies in the past six to eight months, to still have the full life of the mission."

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According to an Aug. 19 blog post by Emily Lakdawalla of the Planetary Society, Curiosity's six wheels have three types of wheel damage -- "punctures, fissures and ghastly tears."

In February, NASA's rover team introduced reverse driving to lessen wheel damage, a news release stated.

Funded two years at a time, the Curiosity rover has enough power to continue functioning for eight or 10 years, he said.

Mount Sharp, rising from inside Gale Crater where Curiosity landed in 2012, is the mission's long-term destination, according to a NASA news release Aug. 15.

Its partner rover, Opportunity, has been working on Mars since January 2004, much longer than expected.