Nasa's unmanned explorer on Mars, Curiosity, has embarked on the final stage of its mission to determine if the planet has ever been hospitable to life.
It has set out on a journey lasting several months to a mountain that rises high out of a central crater, where it will study rocks laid down billions of years ago in the presence of water to see if there's any evidence that the right conditions for life were ever present.
For the past seven months, the BBC reports, Curiosity has been investigating a site just east of its August 2012 touchdown point, drilling rocks and analysing their composition.
But scientists have now decided it is time for it to get rolling. On Friday, engineers commanded it to make an 18-metre drive. On Monday it travelled 40 metres. It will however take many months to reach Mt Sharp.
All up, Curiosity could have to roll roughly eight kilometres to get to the places of key scientific interest. And if the cameras onboard spot unusual rocks along the way, the rover will be commanded to park and examine them. This could put the eventual arrival date deep into next year.
