For apparently the primary time ever, the Curiosity rover on Mars has been noticed mid-drive from orbit, a speck of human presence on the in any other case barren and grayscale panorama.
The picture, taken on February 28, 2025 (Sol 4,466—a leap day right here on Earth!), reveals Curiosity as a tiny darkish blot on the finish of a rover monitor path that stretches about 1,050 ft (320 meters) throughout the Martian floor. It’s the orbital equal of a candid digital camera, courtesy of the HiRISE (Excessive-Decision Imaging Science Experiment) digital camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Whereas HiRISE has snapped Curiosity earlier than, this marks the primary time we’ve seen it mid-stride—erm, roll—caught within the strategy of finishing a 69-foot (21-meter) drive—a truth confirmed by matching timestamps with the rover’s command logs. Curiosity’s high velocity? A blistering 0.1 mph (0.16 kilometers per hour). No, it gained’t win any races—no less than in comparison with autos on Earth—however the rover is regular, hardy, and unbothered by the absence of fuel stations.
The tracks, crunched into the Martian terrain over 11 separate drives made since February 2, have been dug as Curiosity made its manner from the planet’s Gediz Vallis channel towards its subsequent science goal: a rocky area which will function boxwork formations, probably formed by groundwater within the planet’s historic previous.
The brand new picture reveals the rover on the base of a steep slope—one it’s since ascended en path to that rocky location. How lengthy it’ll take Curiosity to reach relies on the terrain forward, the rover’s navigation software program, and the repeatedly up to date plans from NASA engineers, who steer the rover and work with scientists to prioritize its targets.
Curiously, HiRISE normally captures photos with a strip of coloration down the middle, however Curiosity landed within the digital camera’s black-and-white zone this time. So alas—no full-color Martian glamour shot—however nonetheless, it’s a stunner. A lonely speck, chugging up an alien slope, caught within the act from more than 150 miles (241 km) overhead.
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