Curiosity self-portrait, wide view

Dec 27, 2012
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

(Phys.org)—On the 84th and 85th Martian days of the NASA Mars rover Curiosity's mission on Mars (Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2012), NASA's Curiosity rover used the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to capture dozens of high-resolution images to be combined into self-portrait images of the rover.

The mosaic shows the rover at "Rocknest," the spot in Gale Crater where the mission's first scoop sampling took place. Four scoop scars can be seen in the in front of the rover. A fifth scoop was collected later.

Self-portraits like this one document the state of the rover and allow mission engineers to track changes over time, such as dust accumulation and wheel wear. Due to its location on the end of the , only MAHLI (among the rover's 17 cameras) is able to image some parts of the craft, including the port-side wheels.

Explore further: The Curiosity rover's ultimate self-portrait

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User comments : 2

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scidog
5 / 5 (1) Dec 28, 2012
is there enough detail to see where the bits of plastic came off that were on the surface in some photos?
ValeriaT
3 / 5 (2) Dec 28, 2012
The terrestrial photos don't work. We apparently need ten billion dollars for another rover on Mars for achieving of higher quality portraits with Mars background.

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