Guy Webster, DC Agle and Dwayne Brown, NASA

NASAs Mars Curiosity rover has reached the Red Planets Mount Sharp, a Mount-Rainier-size mountain at the center of the vast Gale Crater and the rover missions long-term prime destination.

Curiosity now will begin a new chapter from an already outstanding introduction to the world, said Jim Green, director of NASAs Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. After a historic and innovative landing along with its successful science discoveries, the scientific sequel is upon us.

Curiositys trek up the mountain will begin with an examination of the mountains lower slopes. The rover is starting this process at an entry point near an outcrop called Pahrump Hills, rather than continuing on to the previously-planned, further entry point known as Murray Buttes. Both entry points lay along a boundary where the southern base layer of the mountain meets crater-floor deposits washed down from the craters northern rim.

It has been a long but historic journey to this Martian mountain, said Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The nature of the terrain at Pahrump Hills and just beyond it is a better place than Murray Buttes to learn about the significance of this contact. The exposures at the contact are better due to greater topographic relief.

[ Watch the Video: Curiosity Rover Report: We made it! Curiosity Reaches Mount Sharp ]

The decision to head uphill sooner, instead of continuing to Murray Buttes, also draws from improved understanding of the regions geography provided by the rovers examinations of several outcrops during the past year. Curiosity currently is positioned at the base of the mountain along a pale, distinctive geological feature called the Murray formation. Compared to neighboring crater-floor terrain, the rock of the Murray formation is softer and does not preserve impact scars, as well. As viewed from orbit, it is not as well-layered as other units at the base of Mount Sharp.

Curiosity made its first close-up study last month of two Murray formation outcrops, both revealing notable differences from the terrain explored by Curiosity during the past year. The first outcrop, called Bonanza King, proved too unstable for drilling, but was examined by the rovers instruments and determined to have high silicon content. A second outcrop, examined with the rovers telephoto Mast Camera, revealed a fine-grained, platy surface laced with sulfate-filled veins.

While some of these terrain differences are not apparent in observations made by NASAs Mars orbiters, the rover team still relies heavily on images taken by the agencys Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to plan Curiositys travel routes and locations for study.

For example, MRO images helped the rover team locate mesas that are over 60 feet (18 meters) tall in an area of terrain shortly beyond Pahrump Hills, which reveal an exposure of the Murray formation uphill and toward the south. The team plans to use Curiositys drill to acquire a sample from this site for analysis by instruments inside the rover. The site lies at the southern end of a valley Curiosity will enter this week from the north.

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NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover Arrives At Martian Mountain