NASA’s Reconnaissance Orbiter spots Curiosity rover on Mars’ ‘Mount Sharp’

NASA’s Reconnaissance Orbiter, while cataloging the landscape of Mars, captured the Curiosity rover scaling the mountain Aeolis Mons also informally known as 'Mount Sharp'. The 10 feet long and nine feet wide Curiosity has been exploring the Martian surface since 2012 and stands out in footage captured by Reconnaissance Orbiter against the tanned rocks and dark brown sand. The nearly 30-second clip was uploaded on May 20 on Twitter by the Wonder of Science page where the Reconnaissance Orbiter zooms in on the Curiosity from a distance of 169 miles, as it rests on the Red planet’s soil. 

In the visuals, one can see the Curiosity rover’s remote sensing mast which is the rover's “head" as it forages the Martian surface in the location nicknamed Woodland Bay. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said in a statement, “At the time this image was acquired, the rover was facing 65 degrees counterclockwise from the north, which would put the mast in about the right location to produce this bright spot.”

Curiosity exploring 'sulfate-bearing unit'

NASA’s Curiosity is spotted journeying approximately 3-mile (5-kilometer) on the mountain located inside of Gale Crater often called the "sulfate-bearing unit” as it is a region known to science as having a history of water.  Curiosity has been exploring Mount Sharp to search for evidence of past life on Mars. Scientists at NASA believe that roughly three billion years ago when Mars lost most of its atmosphere, the running water diminished from the planet. Curiosity has been safely exploring Mars’ rocky terrain and has been transmitting data back at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. 

[NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this view, which was stitched together from 28 different images, from "Greenheugh Pediment". Credit: NASA]

[NASA's Curiosity Mars rover discovered the goosebump-like features at the center of this image as it crested the slope of the Greenheugh Pediment. Credit: NASA]

“Curiosity can't drive entirely without humans in the loop," Matt Gildner, lead rover driver at JPL had explained in a statement. ”But it does have the ability to make simple decisions along the way to avoid large rocks or risky terrain. It stops if it doesn't have enough information to complete a drive on its own.” Curiosity has also been exploring another mysterious feature on Mars composed of clay and the sulfate unit known as the "Greenheugh pediment” which determines the climate changes Curiosity's landing zone called the  Gale Crater.