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What it is : NASA ’s CuriosityMars rover

When it was published : Feb. 29 , 2024

NASA�s Curiosity Mars rover appears as a dark speck in this image captured from directly overhead by the agency�s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover appears as a dark speck in this image captured from directly overhead by the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO.

Where it is : Upper Gediz Vallis , in Mars ' Gale Crater

Why it ’s so exceptional : Can you spot the hidden robot on Mars ?

In this photo , NASA ’s Curiosity rover , which has been exploring the surface ofMarssince 2012 , appear as a bantam , dark speck . The rover is seen on the unconscionable slopes of Upper Gediz Vallis in a vast landscape painting scarred by sinister and light bands .

an aerial view of a rock on Mars

Curiosity ’s current location is a monumental achievement for the technologist at NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory , who built and now remotely lock the rover from 203 million knot ( 326 million kilometers ) aside . oddment spent three years gradually climb Gediz Vallis Ridge ; after three failed attack , it finally succeeded in August 2023 , according toNASA .

The space agency thinks urine flowed in this region 3 billion years ago , and carried mud and boulders with it to produce the ridge . Early last year , Curiosity foundevidence of pee and waveson Mars .

This image was taken on Dec. 29 , the 4,051st Martian daylight , or sol , of the rover ’s foreign mission , and NASApublished the photoFeb . 29 . The view from space was captured directly overhead by the High - Resolution Imaging Science Experiment ( HiRISE ) camera on NASA ’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter , which has been orbiting the Red Planet since March 2006 . According to NASA , the camera is capable of view objects as modest as a dinner table on Mars ' surface .

a photograph of Mars rising behind the moon

— blank space photo of the workweek : A young asterisk sweeps up its cosmic neighborhood in vivacious new Hubble figure of speech

— blank photograph of the hebdomad : ' El Gordo ' beetleweed cluster stimulate its guts in largest - ever magnetic theatre mathematical function of infinite

— outer space photo of the week : Swirling ' Spanish Dancer Galaxy ' stares down NASA ’s Hubble

a close-up of a Martian rock with a bubbly texture

In addition to the Curiosity rover , NASA has its Perseverance rover on the aerofoil of Mars . Also in orbit , alongside the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter , are NASA ’s Odyssey and MAVEN ( Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution ) spacecraft . A tiny remote - master chopper name cleverness , which go with the Perseverance rover on its Martian journey for the last three years , recentlysustained irreparable damageon its final , 72nd flight .

An artist�s illustration of long ribbon-like auroras rippling across the Martian sky

An artist�s illustration of Mars�s Gale Crater beginning to catch the morning light.

NASA�s Curiosity rover took this selfie while inside Mars� Gale crater on June 15, 2018, which was the 2,082nd Martian day, or sol, of the rover�s mission.

an illustration of Mars

A photograph taken from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which shows wave-like patterns inside a Mars crater.

A new study has revealed that lichens can withstand the intense ionizing radiation that hits Mars� surface. (The lichen in this photo is Cetraria aculeata.)

An image comparing the relative sizes of our solar system�s known dwarf planets, including the newly discovered 2017 OF201

an illustration showing a large disk of material around a star

a person holds a GLP-1 injector

A man with light skin and dark hair and beard leans back in a wooden boat, rowing with oars into the sea

an MRI scan of a brain

A photograph of two of Colossal�s genetically engineered wolves as pups.