IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Morning Rundown: Baltimore battles ship owners over bridge collapse, concerns about Biden university speech, and why the perception of 'old age' may be changing

NASA's Curiosity Rover Snaps Wide-Angle Selfie on Mars

Hello from Mars! The latest "selfie" from NASA's Curiosity rover shows what seems to be a grinning robot with a Martian mountain in the background.
Image: Martian selfie
A mosaic of images from NASA's Curiosity rover shows what appears to be a "selfie" with a Martian mountain in the background.Jason Major / MSSS / JPL-Caltech / NASA
/ Source: Universe Today

This is very cute: It's Curiosity's latest "selfie," a mosaic assembled from about a dozen images acquired with the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager on April 27-28, 2014 (Sol 613). The (5.5-kilometer-high) Mount Sharp, also known as Aeolis Mons, rises up in the background.

While it’s far from a perfect image — there are plenty of discrepancies in the mosaic tiling, I admit — I really like the character it imparts to Curiosity, who almost seems to be giving a toothy (if slightly dusty) grin there on the left with her cylindrical RUHF antenna and a bit of her radioisotope thermoelectric generator visible in the lower center. With almost 21 months on Mars and lots of discoveries under her robot belt, Curiosity (and her team) certainly have plenty to smile about!

See these and all the raw images from the Mars Science Laboratory mission, and read more about Curiosity’s latest work in Gale Crater in Ken Kremer's article.

— Jason Major, Universe Today

This report was originally published April 28 by Universe Today as "Hello From Mars! Curiosity Smiles in Her Latest 'Selfie.'" Copyright 2014 Universe Today. Republished with permission.