NASA’s Curiosity rover is no stranger to the camera, having appeared in countless selfies and even photos taken from space. But on February 28 — the 4,466th Martian day (or “sol”) of its mission — Curiosity was spotted in a unique way: in what is believed to be the first-ever orbital photo showing the rover driving across the surface of Mars.
The image was captured by the HiRISE (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. In the photo, Curiosity appears as a small dark dot leading a long trail of rover tracks. These tracks, likely to last for several months before Martian winds erase them, stretch about 1,050 feet (320 meters). They show the path of around 11 separate drives, starting on February 2, as Curiosity made its way from the Gediz Vallis channel toward its next scientific target: an area that might contain ancient “boxwork” formations created by groundwater billions of years ago.
How fast is Curiosity moving?
Curiosity isn’t built for speed. It crawls along at a top speed of about 0.1 mph (0.16 kph). How quickly it reaches its next destination depends on factors like how its navigation software handles the terrain and how steep the landscape is. Each day’s journey is carefully planned by engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, who work closely with scientists to map out the rover’s path. “By comparing the time HiRISE took the image to the rover’s commands for the day, we can see it was nearly done with a 69-foot drive,” said Doug Ellison, Curiosity’s planning team chief at JPL.
Capturing the moment
HiRISE is designed to capture incredibly detailed images of Mars. It typically takes photos that are mostly black and white, with a strip of color running down the center for enhanced detail. Although Curiosity has been captured in color images before, this time the rover happened to be in the black-and-white portion of the picture. In this latest image, Curiosity’s tracks can be seen leading toward the base of a steep slope. Since the photo was taken, the rover has successfully climbed the slope and is expected to reach its new science site within the next month or so.
Source: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona.
