May 20, 2012 by drdave Curiosity Still in Cruise Mode But Approaching Mars Transfer Orbit of the Mars Science Laboratory Closing on Mars Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech The Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) is now 73 days from landing on Mars. Curiosity is due on 5 August Phoenix time (6 August UTC) in Gale Crater. The image above shows how close the transfer orbit of Curiosity (green) is compared to the orbit of Mars (orange).
