Gale Crater
Gale Crater is a 154-kilometer-wide impact basin on Mars that contains a central mound of layered sediments known as Mount Sharp. It was selected as the landing site for NASA's Curiosity rover due to its potential to preserve organic molecules and other signs of past life.
Source: science.nasa.gov
APODs including "Gale Crater"
Curiosity on Mars: Mt. Sharp in View
27/08/2012
What's that on the horizon? The light peak is Mt. Sharp -- an eventual destination of the Curiosity rover. The above image mosaic was taken from Bradbury Landing, the landing spot of Curiosity, and shows in the foreground the rover's extended robotic arm. Curiosity's is already on the move crossing the intermediate gravel field toward an interesting terrain feature named Glenelg. Curiosity has also already started analyzing its surroundings by zapping a nearby rock with its laser to analyze the chemical composition of the resulting gas plume. If life ever existed on Mars it might well have been here in Gale crater, with the Curiosity rover being humanity's current best chance to find what remains.