This is the first 360-degree panorama in color of the Gale Crater landing site taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover. The panorama was made from thumbnail versions of images taken by the Mast Camera. Caption and image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
We’re loving all these photographs! Curiosity, the Mars rover that landed on the red planet just three days ago, has been snapping away and feeding our obsession with this amazing NASA mission. For the next 23 months, the rover will analyze rock and ground samples in the fascinating Gale Crater to see if it had, or still has, conditions that are favorable to microbial life.
The panorama above, which was taken today, is made up of 130 images. According to NASA, the image was brightened a bit as Mars receives only half the sunlight Earth does.
Here’s a closer look at a portion of the shot:
This is a portion of the first color 360-degree panorama from NASA’s Curiosity rover, made up of thumbnails, which are small copies of higher-resolution images. Photo and caption courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
We can’t wait to see a closeup of the mountain’s summit!