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NASA’s Curiosity Has Been On Mars For More Than 7 Years And Here Are Its 30 Best Photos
For us, mere mortals, Mars is a no man's land where survival seems like a distant dream. After all, no man has ever walked on its surface (as far as we know) and plans to send one to the red planet are only in the early stages of its development. However, humans have touched Mars through the durable wheels of Mars rovers. We've had 4 successful robotically operated Mars rovers (all of which were managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA) so far: Sojourner, Opportunity, Spirit, and Curiosity.
As Opportunity's mission was declared complete on February 13, 2019 when NASA lost all contact with the vehicle, Curiosity became the lone survivor on the red planet, rolling over its surface to examine and explore the unknown land all by itself. The spacecraft first landed on Mars on August 6, 2012 and started carrying out its objectives throughout the years. In fact, Curiosity did its job so well and held on for so long that its original mission duration of 687 days was expanded indefinitely.
Here's how Curiosity looked 7 years ago and now
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#1
Ripples On Surface Of Martian Sand Dune
Curiosity is approaching its 8 year anniversary on Mars and while it is currently the only functional rover on the planet (after we all, unfortunately, had to say goodbye to Oppy), NASA has plans to send it some company in the shape of Mars 2020 rover. The 2020 mission is scheduled to start on 17 July to 5 August 2020 when the rocket carrying the rover will be launched. NASA also announced a student naming contest for the rover that was held in the fall of 2019. The final name will be announced in early March 2020, so we definitely have something to look forward to!
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#2
Sunset Sequence In Mars' Gale Crater
#3
Curiosity Rover Finds And Examines A Meteorite On Mars
#4
Curiosity's Color View Of Martian Dune After Crossing It
#5
Martian Rock 'Harrison' In Color, Showing Crystals
#6
Curiosity's Dusty Selfie At Duluth
#7
Jake Matijevic Rock
Chuck Donaldson 4 years ago (edited)
There’s a lot going on here - and a lot has happened here. Look it up! It’s not just another rock. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Matijevic_(rock)
#8
Multiple Layers Of Mount Sharp
#9
First Sampling Hole In Mount Sharp
#10
Curiosity Took Dozens Of Mast Cam Images To Complete This Mosaic Of A Petrified Sand Dune
#11
Remnants Of Ancient Streambed On Mars
#12
Outcrop In The Murray Buttes Region Of Lower Mount Sharp
Madison Feehan 4 years ago
Am I the only one Sphinx in the bottom right of the rocks? Certainly amazing formations!
#13
Mount Sharp Comes In Sharply
#14
Curiosity Self-Portrait At Martian Sand Dune
#15
Curiosity Visited An Area Named "Fracture Town" Which Contains Many Pointed, Layered Rock Formations
#16
Having Reached The Base Of Mount Sharp, Curiosity Captured This Image Of Its Rocky Surroundings
#17
Wheel Scuff Mark At 'Rocknest'
#18
Focusing The 100-Millimeter Mastcam
M O'Connell 4 years ago
@Chrsty, Why must everything be "useful" to humanity, and all things which are not "useful" be ignored and declared useless? Stop asking "What can this do for me?" and start asking "What can I learn from this?"
#19
Curiosity Arrived At This Active Sand Dune Named "Gobabeb", Which Is Part Of A Larger Dune Field Known As "Bagnold"
#20
View From Mars Orbiter Showing Curiosity Rover At 'Shaler'
#21
Mars Rover Curiosity In 'Buckskin' Selfie
#22
Layers At The Base Of Mount Sharp
#23
Getting To Know Mount Sharp
#24
Curiosity Tracks In 'Hidden Valley' On Mars
#25
Curiosity Rover's View Of Alluring Martian Geology
#26
Curiosity Self-Portrait At 'Windjana' Drilling Site
#27
A Mudstone Rock Outcrop At The Base Of Mount Sharp
#28
Bone Up On Mars Rock Shapes
#29
Strata At Base Of Mount Sharp
Jim Eberle 4 years ago
Absolutely huge amount of sedimentary rocks on Mars. Such abundance could only form if there had been a vast amount of water on the surface. Differential erosion suggests that sedimentation was episodic. Studying similar photos in the past, I have proposed that Mars experiences "atmosphere ages", not unlike Earth's "ice ages", whereby the orbit of Mars moves into a sustained pattern permitting huge quantities of CO2 ice to sublimate into the atmosphere, raising the atmospheric pressure above the triple point for water to exist in liquid form. The subsequent greenhouse effect then begins melting subsurface water ice, filling the basins, and beginning anew another episode of erosion and sedimentation.
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Troux 4 years ago
It is ASTONISHING to comprehend the task of capturing these images. Just how far away the planet is, just how much work it takes to hit one moving target...FROM another moving target, and get a safe landing, and then sending the information back and forth to a planet that up until very, very, very recently was a DOT. In all of human history, consciousness and impact, Mars was a dot, and nothing more. Now it's a new frontier. For all we lament about what humans seem to be mostly doing these days, consider what they can actually still do when they are passionate, determined and cooperative. Consider how relatively little time there was between leaving earth's orbit and getting our creations on Mars. Within one lifetime we have gone from merely airborne to interplanetary travelers. We have proven that we are utterly limitless. Whenever you feel that you are but a tiny, insignificant morsel of population, always remember that a fraction of infinity is itself, infinite.
Michael Godines 4 years ago
Great comment Troux. It’s almost crazy to believe that we are capable of receiving images from another planet of all places which is so far away. It makes me curious about the signals we receive everyday which we stamped as “intuition”. Someone somewhere, is in contact with us but we just haven’t advanced far enough to find out who.
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Troux 4 years ago
It is ASTONISHING to comprehend the task of capturing these images. Just how far away the planet is, just how much work it takes to hit one moving target...FROM another moving target, and get a safe landing, and then sending the information back and forth to a planet that up until very, very, very recently was a DOT. In all of human history, consciousness and impact, Mars was a dot, and nothing more. Now it's a new frontier. For all we lament about what humans seem to be mostly doing these days, consider what they can actually still do when they are passionate, determined and cooperative. Consider how relatively little time there was between leaving earth's orbit and getting our creations on Mars. Within one lifetime we have gone from merely airborne to interplanetary travelers. We have proven that we are utterly limitless. Whenever you feel that you are but a tiny, insignificant morsel of population, always remember that a fraction of infinity is itself, infinite.
Michael Godines 4 years ago
Great comment Troux. It’s almost crazy to believe that we are capable of receiving images from another planet of all places which is so far away. It makes me curious about the signals we receive everyday which we stamped as “intuition”. Someone somewhere, is in contact with us but we just haven’t advanced far enough to find out who.
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