See the Curiosity Mars Panorama on Permanent Display at the US National Mall

By Nancy Atkinson - August 3, 2013 at 7:37 PM UTC | Planetary Science
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Congratulations to Universe Today writer

Ken Kremer

and his partner in image editing, Marco Di Lorenzo, who have had one of the panoramas they created from the Curiosity rover's imagery included in a permanent Solar System exhibit outside the National Air and Space Museum on the US National Mall in Washington, D.C. The exhibit is called "Voyage" and was created by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) and is sponsored in part by NASA.

Ken said the NCESSE contacted him a few months ago back to use the mosaic -- from Sol 169 of Curiosity's time on Mars -- and the project is finally complete. "They liked and chose it because it evokes a human presence on Mars with the rover in the foreground," Ken said.

The exhibit is a one to 10-billion scale model of our Solar System—spanning 600 meters (6,000 feet) from the National Air and Space Museum to the Smithsonian Castle Building, and Ken and Marco's image from the Curiosity rover is part of the information about Mars.

Here's a description of the exhibit from NCESSE website:

"The Voyage exhibition on the National Mall, installed in 2001, was created through a partnership between Challenger Center for Space Science Education, the Smithsonian Institution, and NASA. A summer 2013 update of this exhibition's content was undertaken by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education and the Smithsonian Institution, through a grant from the District of Columbia Space Grant Consortium. To learn more, and view photo albums of all Voyage exhibitions, visit the Voyage National Program page."

Here's a closeup of Ken and Marco's mosaic:

[caption id="attachment_103920" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

Close up of the Mars placard for the Voyager Solar System exhibit. Image courtesy of Ken Kremer. [/caption]

And a full view of the image is below.

You can learn more about the exhibit at the

NCESSE Voyage webpage.

Again, congratulations to Ken and Marco!

[caption id="attachment_99751" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

Curiosity accomplished Historic 1st drilling into Martian rock at John Klein outcrop on Feb 8, 2013 (Sol 182), shown in this context mosaic view of the Yellowknife Bay basin taken on Jan. 26 (Sol 169). The robotic arm is pressing down on the surface at John Klein outcrop of veined hydrated minerals - dramatically back dropped with her ultimate destination; Mount Sharp. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo[/caption]

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