Mars as seen in a panorama taken by Curiosity

The Mars rover Curiosity celebrated its ninth year on Mars in August. NASA has released a video with audio descriptions of images captured by Curiosity. It is unreasonable to go to Mars, but you can enjoy the virtual tour.

Curiosity took a panoramic photo with 360-degree views near Mount Rafael Navarro on July 3rd. The mountain is named after an astrobiologist who died in January. According to a NASA press release, the panoramic image is a composite of 129 photos, and the color of the rock is adjusted to match the sunlight reflected on the ground, and the white balance is adjusted.

Curiosity has been roaming the 154 km diameter Gale Crater since it landed on Mars in 2012. Mars is now winter and visibility is clear. This allows a clear view of the crater floor and the 25.7km distance traveled through the mission.

It is also interesting to see the difference in the surface layer in the video. The lake Curiosity had previously explored had only formed clay rocks, but found rocks containing saline such as sulphate. A NASA official explained that the rocks here tell how a once-moisturized planet became as dry as it is today, and how long the habitable environment existed before it became so.

Recognizing that life existed in this old Mars environment, Curiosity and other probes are looking for clues. In the future, Curiosity will pass between the Rafael Navarro Mountains and hills and into a narrow canyon. Afterwards, we will visit the Greenheugh Pediment, which we climbed again in 2020. Related information can be found here.