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What it is : NASA ’s CuriosityMars rover

When it was published : Feb. 29 , 2024

NASA�s Curiosity Mars rover appears as a dark speck in this image captured from directly overhead by the agency�s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover appears as a dark speck in this image captured from directly overhead by the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO.

Where it is : Upper Gediz Vallis , in Mars ' Gale Crater

Why it ’s so special : Can you discern the hidden golem on Mars ?

In this photo , NASA ’s Curiosity rover , which has been exploring the surface ofMarssince 2012 , appears as a tiny , dark speck . The rover is hear on the unconscionable slope of Upper Gediz Vallis in a huge landscape scarred by drear and light bands .

an aerial view of a rock on Mars

Curiosity ’s current localisation is a massive achievement for the applied scientist at NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory , who built and now remotely manoeuver the rover from 203 million miles ( 326 million kilometers ) away . Curiosity spent three age gradually climbing Gediz Vallis Ridge ; after three failed attack , it in the end succeeded in August 2023 , according toNASA .

The space agency think water flowed in this area 3 billion age ago , and carried clay and boulders with it to produce the ridgeline . Early last twelvemonth , Curiosity foundevidence of pee and waveson Mars .

This image was taken on Dec. 29 , the 4,051st Martian Clarence Day , or sol , of the rover ’s delegation , and NASApublished the photoFeb . 29 . The view from space was appropriate forthwith overhead by the High - Resolution Imaging Science Experiment ( HiRISE ) camera on NASA ’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter , which has been revolve the Red Planet since March 2006 . According to NASA , the camera is equal to of viewing objects as modest as a dinner tabular array on Mars ' airfoil .

Still frame of mars clouds captured from NASA rover showing iridescent colors and white plumes.

— Space exposure of the hebdomad : A young star broom up its cosmic neighborhood in vibrant fresh Hubble effigy

— Space picture of the week : ' El Gordo ' galaxy cluster shake its guts in largest - ever magnetic field of battle map of place

— quad photo of the week : Swirling ' Spanish Dancer Galaxy ' stares down NASA ’s Edwin Hubble

a photograph of Mars rising behind the moon

In increase to the Curiosity rover , NASA has its Perseverance rover on the surface of Mars . Also in orbit , alongside the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter , are NASA ’s Odyssey and MAVEN ( Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution ) spacecraft . A petite remote - controlled helicopter named cleverness , which attach to the Perseverance rover on its Martian journey for the last three years , recentlysustained irreparable damageon its concluding , 72nd flight .

a close-up of a Martian rock with a bubbly texture

An artist�s illustration of long ribbon-like auroras rippling across the Martian sky

An artist�s illustration of Mars�s Gale Crater beginning to catch the morning light.

an illustration of Mars

A photograph taken from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which shows wave-like patterns inside a Mars crater.

A new study has revealed that lichens can withstand the intense ionizing radiation that hits Mars� surface. (The lichen in this photo is Cetraria aculeata.)

NASA�s Curiosity rover took this selfie while inside Mars� Gale crater on June 15, 2018, which was the 2,082nd Martian day, or sol, of the rover�s mission.

Fragment of a stone with relief carving in the ground

An illustration of microbiota in the gut

an illustration of DNA

images showing auroras on Jupiter

An image of the Eagle Nebula, a cluster of young stars.

a reconstruction of an early reptile