The Curiosity rover is a robotic car-sized Mars rover. It is exploring Gale Crater, which is near the equator of Mars. The rover uses nuclear power and is part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL).
The MSL mission has four main scientific goals: study Martian climate and geology, search for water, and find out whether Mars could have ever supported life. Curiosity carries the most advanced scientific equipment ever used on the surface of Mars.