Government Shutdown Can't Stop NASA's Curiosity Rover

The U.S. government shutdown has hindered most Earth-bound NASA employees from working. On Mars, however, the Curiosity rover is going strong.

Since contract workers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) oversee the mission which touched down on the Red Planet in August 2012, the Curiosity team is not subject to the same furloughs as other NASA employees. Veronica McGregor, a media relations manager at JPL, said the California Institute of Technology technically employs herself and others at the lab.

"Curiosity is doing what Curiosity does — she's roving, taking some images of Mars, still sending those back," McGregor told Mashable"Right now, things continue on as normal." Read more...