Curiosity's "Bootprint" on Mars

By Nancy Atkinson - October 4, 2012 at 1:56 AM UTC | Planetary Science
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Looking very similar to the iconic first footprint on the Moon from the Apollo 11 landing, this

new raw image

from the Curiosity rover on Mars shows one of the first "scuff" marks from the rover's wheels on a small sandy ridge. This image was taken today by Curiosity's right Navcam on Sol 57 (2012-10-03 19:08:27 UTC). Rover driver

Matt Heverly

described a scuff as spinning one wheel to move the soil below it out of the way.

Besides being on different worlds, the two prints likely have a very different future. NASA says the first footprints on the Moon will be there for a million years, since there is no wind to blow them away.

Research on the tracks left by Spirit and Opportunity

revealed the time scale for track erasure by wind is typically only one Martian year or two Earth years.

Here's one of Buzz Aldrin's bootprint, to compare:

The (Great Images in NASA) says this is an image of Buzz Aldrin's bootprint from the Apollo 11 mission. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Credit: NASA

Curiosity chief scientist John Grotzinger compared earlier images of some of the first tracks left on Mars by Curiosity to images of the footprints left by Aldrin and Armstrong on the Moon. "I think instead of a human, it's a robot pretty much doing the same thing," he said.

Lead Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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