NASA Curiosity Rover, which has been delighting folks on Earth with stunning photos of Mars since it landed in 2012, shares a new picture of the Martian planet. The latest image shared by NASA is an in-depth landscape that surpasses all others, stitched more than a thousand pics collectively.
The pictures had been snapped by Curiosity in 2019 by the use of the telephoto lens at the rover's Mast Camera. Together, the snapshots consist of 1.8 billion pixels.
A second, smaller panorama changed into additionally produced using the rover's medium-angle lens. It carries 650 million pixels and also shows the rover's robot arm and deck.
Curiosity became curious during Thanksgiving celebration
The photographs had been captured by Curiosity between November 24 and December 1, 2019. Curiosity "worked" throughout the Thanksgiving as its Earth-bound team took a day off to enjoy the holiday. Before the group left, they sent instructions to place its cameras and ensure that its photographs might be sharp.
After that, Curiosity did not have every other waiting commands, so the rover sat nevertheless and snapped away.
For four straight days, the rover shot took a photo from 12 noon and 4 p.m. neighborhood time so the lights could be consistent across the snapshots.
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The Mars you've never seen before
A NASA video points out a number of the highlights you can experience in the image. Both panoramas show Curiosity's modern home of Glen Torridon. It's a region near Mount Sharp named for Scotland's Northwest Highlands, which contains some of the oldest rocks inside the world.
On Mars, Glen Torridon is full of intriguing clay mineral deposits that Curiosity has been observing. It's located in Gale Crater --a large and dry ancient lake bed with a 16,404-foot mountain at its center. Mount Sharp's peak is taller than the rim of the crater.
Streams and lakes possibly crammed Gale Crater billions of years ago, that is why NASA landed the rover there in 2012.
Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said Curiosity produced the feast for the eyes during the Thanksgiving celebration. "This is the first time during the mission we've dedicated our operations to a stereo 360-degree panorama," he said.
The teams returned on Earth carefully put the pictures collectively for the panorama. A special device at the JPL site allows you to zoom in and see heritage information up close.
An insanely high-res photo would mean massive file size
NASA provided up the entire 2.25 GB image file for download here, but you can also zoom around the landscape for your browser. Not content with just one large panorama, NASA also created a second, smaller model that indicates more of the rover within the picture.
Curiosity additionally shared a 1.3 billion-pixel panorama in 2013 because it collected rocks.
