Curiosity Rover Records 61-Exposure Mars Selfie at Vera Rubin Ridge

Q: What hidden dangers to Curiosity's survival did engineers spot in the rover's meticulously stitched Martian selfie?

Engineers used Curiosity’s stitched self-portraits to watch for two quiet but serious threats: wheel damage from Mars’ sharp rocks and dust buildup on the rover’s hardware. The 2018 Vera Rubin Ridge selfie was more than a publicity image. NASA says these MAHLI self-portraits help the team inspect the rover’s condition over time, especially the wheels and how much dust is collecting on the vehicle. The biggest survival concern has been the wheels. By about a year into the mission, engineers had already spotted punctures and tears in Curiosity’s aluminum wheels from driving over jagged terrain, raising fears the rover might not complete its journey. Later close-up checks showed holes and cracks had worsened, even if NASA said the wheels were still performing. Dust was the other hazard visible in such images. Unlike a dramatic failure, it is a slow risk: dust can coat instruments, joints and surfaces, degrading performance and complicating operations in Mars’ harsh environment. Selfies gave engineers a way to monitor how much of that wear was accumulating. So the “hidden dangers” were not something cinematic in the background of the selfie, but signs on the rover itself: battle scars on the wheels and the steady encroachment of Martian dust, both of which could threaten Curiosity’s long-term survival.

Q: Why did NASA intentionally edit out Curiosity's robotic arm from its iconic Martian self-portrait?

NASA edited out Curiosity’s robotic arm to create a clean, seamless self-portrait and avoid distracting viewers with the camera mechanism used to take the image. The selfie was not a single photograph. It was a mosaic built from 61 separate MAHLI images taken by a camera mounted on the end of the rover’s arm. Because the arm moved through different positions while collecting those frames, parts of it would have appeared in the composite and broken the illusion of a normal portrait. By removing those sections during image assembly, NASA made the final picture look as if Curiosity had been photographed by an external camera standing on the Martian surface. NASA has used this technique in other rover self-portraits as well. In some cases, the arm was positioned out of view in selected frames; in others, portions containing the arm were edited out when stitching the mosaic together. The background was then filled in with imagery from other cameras, such as Mastcam, to complete the scene. The editing was mainly for presentation and clarity, not to alter the rover itself. These self-portraits still serve practical purposes, including checking the rover’s condition, dust buildup and wheel wear, while also giving the public a striking, readable view of Curiosity in its Martian setting.

2 articles · Updated · Science@NASA · Oct 5

Curiosity captured a new selfie at the south rim of Vera Rubin Ridge on sol 1943—Earth date Jan. 23, 2018—using 61 images from its Mars Hand Lens Imager.
The mosaicked panorama was also assembled as a 360-degree VR view; frames showing the rover's arm were removed, and the wider background came from Mastcam images taken on sol 1903.
The scene includes Mount Sharp, though Curiosity's ChemCam housing blocks part of the distant 5-kilometer-high peak from view.
By Aug. 26, 2026, Curiosity had climbed a total of 1 kilometer from Gale Crater's floor up Mount Sharp, underscoring the long-running exploration behind the image.