Curiosity celebrates one-year Martian anniversary

For exactly one year now, the beloved Mars rover Curiosity has delivered knowledge to NASA scientists and joy to science lovers across the globe.

"One year?" readers might wonder.

If it seems like Curiosity's been gone longer than that, it's because it has. The rover is celebrating its first full Martian year on the job. A full orbit of the sun takes Mars roughly 687 Earth days.

To commemorate the year's worth of hard work, NASA posted one of Curiosity's many recent selfies -- taken earlier this year via the Mars Hand Lens Imager, a high resolution camera affixed to the end of the rover's robotic arm.

NASA says Curiosity has already accomplished its primary mission to determine whether Mars was once hospitable to life. The verdict: it was. The rover has collected a variety of samples and observations revealing the previous presence of water and elements essential for life.

In addition to the selfie, NASA also released a video explaining what's next for Curiosity.