Contact was lost with MPL on 3 December when it turned to enter the Martian atmosphere.
In its first sniff of the Martian atmosphere, however, Curiosity found virtually no methane present.
FORBES: Curiosity Sniffs The Martian Atmosphere But Finds No Sign Of Life
MRO, however, snapped a photo of Curiosity riding its parachute through the Martian atmosphere.
That gives scientists some clues about what the ancient Martian atmosphere may have been like.
Curiosity is expected to hit the top of the Martian atmosphere at 1:24 a.m.
The dust in the Martian atmosphere is comparable to that of a moderately smoggy day in Los Angeles.
Instead, its altitude was 80km lower, and it is reckoned to have burned up in the Martian atmosphere.
The low concentration of methane is in line with other studies of the Martian atmosphere performed by other instruments.
FORBES: Curiosity Sniffs The Martian Atmosphere But Finds No Sign Of Life
The signs Curiosity has found so far suggest that part of the Martian atmosphere was eventually lost to outer space.
FORBES: Curiosity Sniffs The Martian Atmosphere But Finds No Sign Of Life
What we'd like to do is to try and understand this process because it will help us understand the dynamics of the Martian atmosphere and Martian weather.
It gathered samples of the atmosphere to be measured by its Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instruments, which allow sophisticated analysis of the Martian atmosphere from the rover.
FORBES: Curiosity Sniffs The Martian Atmosphere But Finds No Sign Of Life
Compared with the sluggish air on Earth, the Martian atmosphere is in constant motion: between the surface and six feet above it, temperatures can vary by as much as sixty degrees.
ExoMars, as we call it on this side of the pond, envisages a satellite to study the Martian atmosphere, followed by a large robotic rover to drill beneath the surface and cache rocks for later return to Earth.
The dog-sized bot, only 73 pounds (33 kilograms), will look for direct evidence of existing life, whether combing the Martian atmosphere for methane, a possible biological byproduct, or checking rocks for a form of carbon favored by cells.
If events go as planned, the Curiosity spacecraft late on Aug. 5 will plunge into the thin Martian atmosphere at 13, 200 miles per hour and quickly brake by swooping back and forth in aerodynamic S-curves, much like the Space Shuttle.
The intervening weeks will be spent in a manoeuvre called aerobraking, which involves using the air-resistance of the thin Martian atmosphere to change the elliptical initial orbit into a circular one from which the planet's surface can be examined in detail.
One key element in searching for life on Mars is the presence of methane in the Martian atmosphere As a simple carbon compound, methane is often a precursor to the formation of the complex organic chemicals that make life possible.
FORBES: Curiosity Sniffs The Martian Atmosphere But Finds No Sign Of Life
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