Many Doorways on Mars

NASA’s Curiosity rover has snapped spectacular new pictures of a mountainous landscape containing many doorways on Mars.

The images, which were published by the space agency, shows the rover’s view from high up on a martian mountain called Mount Sharp. The car-sized vehicle has been exploring for the past few years.

Mission engineers commanded the rover to take the images on November 16, 2021. Using its navigation cameras, the vehicle took two composite images capturing the same scene in the morning and late afternoon local Mars time.

ABOUT THE ROVER

NASA’s Curiosity Rover, part of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, is a car-sized rover exploring Gale Crater and Mount Sharp on Mars. Launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011, it landed on Aeolis Palus inside Gale crater on Mars on August 6, 2012. As of March 15, 2024, Curiosity has been active on Mars for 4126 sols (4239 total days; 11 years, 222 days) since its landing. The rover’s design serves as the basis for NASA’s 2021 Perseverance mission, which carries different scientific instruments.

Curiosity’s mission goals include an investigation of the Martian climate and geology, assessment of whether the selected field site inside Gale has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life (including investigation of the role of water), and planetary habitability studies in preparation for human exploration. The rover is the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars. It has made significant contributions to our understanding of Mars, including capturing Martian mornings and afternoons, studying spots on Mars, and reaching Mars Ridge where water left debris pileup.

SOURCE
Curiosity (MSL) – Science@NASA https://science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity/