American space agency NASA has unveiled a travel schedule for its Mars rover Curiosity.

Gale Crater landing site on the Red Planet will be Curiosity's first destination, and the rover will gradually move to reach its primary mission - the base of Mount Sharp, which is a three-mile high mound featuring layers of exposed rock.

But it will first visit a site Glenelg in a different direction due to the three adjoining rock formations, which scientists believe could help them better understand the history of the crater and of Mars.

The timing of expedition to Glenelg will depend in part on how well the six-wheeled rover tours through the rest of its apparatus check-out.

Toward the end of the calendar year, it will turn its sights toward the Mount Sharp. Lead mission scientist John Grotzinger said, "Sometime toward the end of the calendar year, roughly, I would guess then we would turn our sights toward the trek to Mount Sharp."

During its mission, Curiosity will also fire its powerful laser to crush a part of bedrock uncovered by exhaust from its descent engine. The vaporized material from the crushed bedrock will then be analyzed to determine what mineral deposits it contains.

Nuclear-powered Curiosity landed on Mars on August 6 in a huge crater near Mars's equator. Its main motive is to search for the building blocks of possible Martian microbial life.