Update Set in San Francisco About Curiosity Mars Rover

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 PHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Veronica McGregor/Guy Webster 818-354-9452/ 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
veronica.c.mcgregor@jpl.nasa.gov/ guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

Advisory: 2012-377b Nov. 29, 2012

Update Set in San Francisco About Curiosity Mars Rover

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2012-377&cid=release_2012-377

PASADENA, Calif. -- The next news conference about the NASA Mars rover Curiosity will be held
at 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 3, in San Francisco at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union
(AGU).

Rumors and speculation that there are major new findings from the mission at this early stage are
incorrect. The news conference will be an update about first use of the rover's full array of analytical
instruments to investigate a drift of sandy soil. One class of substances Curiosity is checking for is
organic compounds -- carbon-containing chemicals that can be ingredients for life. At this point in the
mission, the instruments on the rover have not detected any definitive evidence of Martian organics.

The Mars Science Laboratory Project and its Curiosity rover are less than four months into a two-year
prime mission to investigate whether conditions in Mars' Gale Crater may have been favorable for
microbial life. Curiosity is exceeding all expectations for a new mission with all of the instruments
and measurement systems performing well. This is spectacular for such a complex system, and one
that is operated so far away on Mars by people here on planet Earth. The mission already has found
an ancient riverbed on the Red Planet, and there is every expectation for remarkable discoveries still
to come.

Audio and visuals from the briefing also will be streamed online at: http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl .

For more information about the mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mars and
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl .

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