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NASA published this original story on April 24, 2025. Edits by EarthSky.<\/p>\n
The image marks what may be the first time one of the agency\u2019s Mars orbiters has captured the rover driving.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Curiosity Mars rover has never been camera shy, having been seen in selfies and images taken from space. But on February 28 \u2014 the 4,466th Martian day, or sol, of the mission \u2014 Curiosity was captured in what is believed to be the first orbital image of the rover mid-drive across the red planet.<\/p>\n
Taken by the HiRISE (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera aboard NASA\u2019s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the image shows Curiosity as a dark speck at the front of a long trail of rover tracks. Likely to last for months before being erased by wind, the tracks span about 1,050 feet (320 meters). They represent roughly 11 drives starting on February 2 as Curiosity trucked along at a top speed of 0.1 mph (0.16 kph) from Gediz Vallis channel on the journey to its next science stop: a region with potential boxwork formations, possibly made by groundwater billions of years ago.<\/p>\n
How quickly the rover reaches the area depends on a number of factors, including how its software navigates the surface and how challenging the terrain is to climb. Engineers at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which leads Curiosity\u2019s mission, work with scientists to plan each day\u2019s trek.<\/p>\n
Doug Ellison, Curiosity\u2019s planning team chief at JPL, said: <\/p>\n
\nBy comparing the time HiRISE took the image to the rover\u2019s commands for the day, we can see it was nearly done with a 69-foot drive.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Designed to ensure the best spatial resolution, HiRISE takes an image with the majority of the scene in black and white and a strip of color down the middle. While the camera has captured Curiosity in color before, this time the rover happened to fall within the black-and-white part of the image.<\/p>\n
In the new image, Curiosity\u2019s tracks lead to the base of a steep slope. The rover has ascended that slope since then, and it is expected to reach its new science location within a month or so.<\/p>\n
Bottom line: A spacecraft orbiting Mars has caught the Curiosity rover in action as it drives to its next science mission.<\/p>\n
Via NASA<\/p>\n
Read more: Morning and afternoon on Mars, from Curiosity rover<\/p>\n
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