Rover sends colour ‘Earth-like’ images
Curiosity begins weeks of tedious health checks
The Curiosity rover has returned another postcard from Mars — the first 360-degree colour view from Gale Crater.
Since landing Sunday night, NASA’s six-wheel rover has been sending home a trickle of pictures, beginning with grainy, black-and-white photos. It also beamed back a low-quality video showing the last few minutes of its descent to the surface.
It recently raised its mast containing high-resolution and navigation cameras that have given scientists a better view of the landing site.
Curiosity is on a two-year mission to study whether Gale ever had conditions favourable for microbial life.
Scientists say the ancient Martian crater where the rover landed looks strikingly similar to the Mojave Desert in California with its looming mountains and hanging haze.
“The first impression that you get is how Earth-like this seems looking at that landscape,” said chief scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology on Wednesday.
Overnight, the car-size rover poked its head out for the first time since settling in Gale Crater, peered around and returned a black-and-white selfportrait and panorama that’s still being processed.
It provided a view of its destination since touching down Sunday night after nailing an intricate choreography. During the last few seconds, a rocket-powered spacecraft hovered as cables lowered Curiosity to the ground.
In some of the latest photos, Curiosity looked out toward the northern horizon. Nearby were scour marks in the surface blasted by thrusters, which kicked up a swirl of dust. There were concerns that Curiosity got dusty, but scientists said that was not the case.
“We do see a thin coating of dust, but nothing too bad,” said Justin Maki, imaging scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the $2.5 billion mission.
Scientists were giddy about the scour marks because they exposed bedrock below — information that should help them better understand the landing site.
Since landing, Curiosity has zipped home a stream of low-resolution pictures taken by tiny cameras under the chassis and a camera at the end of its robotic arm, which remained stowed.
It also sent back a low-quality video showing the last 2 1/2 minutes of its descent. The rover successfully raised its mast packed with high-resolution and navigation cameras. With the mast up, it can begin its shutterbug days in force, including taking a 360-degree colour view of its surroundings as early as Thursday.
Grotzinger said he was struck by the Martian landscape, which appeared diverse. There seemed to be harder material underneath the gravelly surface, he said.
“It kind of makes you feel at home,” he said. “We’re looking at a place that feels really comfortable.”
Mars, of course, is very different from Earth. It’s a frigid desert constantly bombarded by radiation. There are geological signs that it was a warmer and wetter place once upon a time. One of the mission’s goals is to figure out how Mars transformed.
After sailing about 566 million kilometres and eight months, Curiosity parked its six wheels near the Martian equator, where it will spend the next two years poking into rocks and soil in search of the chemical ingredients of life. It is the most expensive and ambitious mission yet to Mars.
Before the one-ton, nuclear-powered Curiosity can start roving, it has to undergo several weeks of tedious but essential health checks.