- Mars as you don’t know him
- The Curiosity probe took a never-before-seen video
- look at
The robotic rover Curiosity, which explores the surface of Mars, has not had it easy lately. Not long after he managed to reach his uncertain destination – the Gediz Vallis Ridge – there was a rather long downtime. But now it’s back, and it’s sent incredible footage of the Martian landscape to scientists on Earth.
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Mars as you don’t know him
The robotic rover of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been searching for life on Mars for 11 years. He tirelessly explores the surface of the planet, searching for traces of current or past microbial life.
Curiosity shot its last two videos on Nov. 8 during its 4,002nd Martian day, or sol, of its mission. To clarify, a sol is slightly longer than an Earth day, which lasts 24 hours. During the period for which the term “Mars solar conjunction” exists, scientists stop sending messages to the Curiosity rover because they can be disturbed by solar activity, although the rover still sends regular check-up data to Earthlings.
This year, the probe did not communicate with scientists for two weeks, from November 11 to 25, with the last instruction it received saying to begin filming its surroundings with Hazard-Avoidance Cameras (HazCams).
NASA is exploring the planet Mars
These instruments are typically used to identify Martian terrain that can be risky and difficult for Curiosity to navigate, but they can be used in other ways when the rover is paused.
During the footage, which consists of twelve hourly images taken over 24 hours, 37 minutes and 22 seconds of a Martian day, Curiosity’s shadow can be seen floating across the surface of Mars, with the robot effectively serving as a rudimentary sundial.
The team operating Curiosity had hoped to see remarkable Martian clouds or so-called “dust devils” in the video footage, but unfortunately there is nothing like that in the footage.
However, the video shows a valley near Aeolis Mons, a 4.5 kilometer mountain located in the Gale Crater region of the red planet. Curiosity has been exploring the area since landing in 2012.
Preview photo source: NASA, source: Space
2023-12-30 17:00:57
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