Updated
Updated · Boing Boing · Sep 17
NASA Unveils Curiosity 5,000th-Sol Mars Postcard From 2 Panoramas
Updated
Updated · Boing Boing · Sep 17

NASA Unveils Curiosity 5,000th-Sol Mars Postcard From 2 Panoramas

3 articles · Updated · Boing Boing · Sep 17

Summary

  • NASA released a colorized panoramic “postcard” stitched from Curiosity images taken on Aug. 30 and Sept. 2, marking the rover’s 5,000th and 5,003rd Martian days.
  • Two black-and-white navigation-camera panoramas shot at the sand ridge nicknamed Chocolatal were merged for artistic effect, with blue showing morning light and yellow showing afternoon.
  • Curiosity captured the scene from Mount Sharp’s foothills inside Gale Crater, with its deck, antenna, nuclear power source and tracks visible against the crater floor and distant rim.
  • The image highlights a rover still active after more than 14 years on Mars, where it has found organic carbon and signs of past liquid water in its search for evidence the planet once supported microbial life.

Insights

Why does NASA transform raw black-and-white Mars photos into artistic postcards rather than showing the unedited reality?
What hidden secrets of ancient Martian life might be locked within the strange polygonal fractures Curiosity recently discovered?
How has a nuclear battery without moving parts kept a solitary rover alive on Mars for over 5,000 days?