Bradbury Landing in Stunning Color and 3-D

By Nancy Atkinson - August 24, 2012 at 10:12 PM UTC | Planetary Science
MSL3_bradbury_landing_eighth.jpg

Bradbury Landing color panorama. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems. with image editing by James Canvin.

The image editing wizards at

UnmannedSpaceflight

are having a field day with all the sensational views being sent back by the Curiosity rover. Above is a beautiful color 360-degree panoramic view edited by

James Canvin

of the newly named "Bradbury Landing," Curiosity's landing place. The view of Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp) is simply stunning, along with parts of (and shadows of) the rover itself. Click on the image to have access to larger views. James said he added the latest downloads from Curiosity in order to show the top of Aeolis Mons, and extended the sky to make the view complete.

See more views, below:

Aeolis Mons/Mount Sharp. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/image editing by Stuart Atkinson

Here's a view focusing on just Aeolis Mons by Stuart Atkinson at his wonderful

Gale Gazette website,

which highlights Curiosity's latest explorations. He said he "boosted" the colors "just a bit, to bring out some detail." Click on any of these images to see larger versions from Stu to see more detail -- one could spend hours looking at the all the features! And presumably, the MSL science team is doing just that!

And there's more detail from another image enhanced by Stu, a closeup of one part of the huge mountain in the center of Gale Crater, Curiosity's ultimate destination for exploration:

The "Promised Land" at the base of Aeolis Mons. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/image editing by Stuart Atkinson

Just look at this intriguing area of mesas and buttes that Curiosity will one day, hopefully be able to explore!

A view of Curiosity and the first tracks left by this rover on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Now it's time to grab your 3-D glasses to appreciate a the great view from Curiosity!

3-D view of Curiosity's tracks. NASA/JPL-Caltech/image editing by Stuart Atkinson

3-D view of wheel tracks left by the Curiosity rover on Mars, as captured by the rover's hazard avoidance cameras. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Stuart Atkinson

Thanks to Stuart and James and all the

UnmannedSpaceflight

image editing wizards for providing us all a better appreciation of the location and views from Curiosity's new science spot. We look forward to more images as they become available! You can see all the raw images straight from Curiosity

here.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com