Today’s APOD: Curiosity on Mars

Today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) features a mosaic put together in part by Universe Today’s Ken Kremer, along with his imaging partner Marco Di Lorenzo, using images sent back from the Curiosity rover. It shows Curiosity’s landing site, Bradbury Landing, with its ultimate destination, Aeolis Mons/Mount Sharp off in the distance. It’s a beautiful and crisp image, which show parts of the rover itself — including the extended robotic arm — and its shadow on Mars. As the APOD editors Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell say, “If life ever existed on Mars it might well have been here in Gale crater, with the Curiosity rover being humanity’s current best chance to find what remains.”

Congrats to Ken and Marco for being featured on APOD!

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/

Recent Posts

Chinese Probe Lands on Moon’s Far Side to Collect Samples for Return

After touching down on the moon's far side, China's Chang'e-6 lander is collecting samples to…

5 hours ago

A New Way to Make Precise Maps of the Lunar Surface

There was a time when maps of the Moon were created from telescopic observations and…

1 day ago

Japanese Billionaire Calls Off His Starship Trip Around the Moon

Six years after he announced a grand plan to fly around the moon with a…

1 day ago

Planetary Protection: Why study it? What can it teach us about finding life beyond Earth?

Universe Today has recently investigated a plethora of scientific disciplines, including impact craters, planetary surfaces,…

2 days ago

New Telescope Images of Io are so Good, it Looks like a Spacecraft Took Them

The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT), located on Mount Graham in Arizona and run by the…

2 days ago

South Korea is Planning to Send a Mission to Mars by 2045

It is truly wonderful to see so many nations aspiring to space exploration and trips…

2 days ago