Curiosity Rover Takes an Incredible Self-Portrait

By Nancy Atkinson - October 31, 2012 07:48 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Wow, what a view of the Curiosity rover! This is a self-portrait mosaic made from brand

new images

taken by the MAHLI (Mars Hand Lens Imager), the high-resolution camera located on the turret at the end of MSL's robotic arm. The arm was moved for each of the 55 images in this mosaic, so the arm doesn't show up in the mosaic. This montage was put together by

Stuart Atkinson

, and he notes that these images are just the low-res thumbnail images that have just been sent to Earth. "Imagine what the hi-res version will look like!!" Stu said.

We can't wait. Here's looking at you, Curiosity!

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/Stuart Atkinson

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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