NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity had some downtime in November. But instead of resting on its laurels, the robot captured amazing footage from dawn to dusk on Earth’s neighboring planet.
Curiosity captured two black-and-white videos on November 8, the 4,002nd Mars day (sol) of its mission. (One sol is a little longer than her 24 hours in a day on Earth.) The downtime as Curiosity searches for life is due to the time required for Mars to pass around Earth on the other side of the sun. was.
During these periods, called Mars solar conjunctions, ground control operators stop sending messages to robots on Mars because solar plasma can interfere with these commands, but missions still send regular Send a “health check” back to Earth.
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This year, the Mars fleet was cut off from communications for two weeks from November 11th to the 25th, and the last instructions Curiosity received were for the robot to begin photographing its surroundings with two Hazard Avoidance Cameras (HazCams). That’s what I was instructed to do.
These cameras are typically used to identify spots rocks, slopes, and other hazards that are dangerous for Curiosity to pass over, but they can be used for other purposes while the rover is stationary. You can also.
The footage, consisting of 12 hours worth of snapshots collected over 24 hours, 37 minutes, and 22 seconds of a Martian day from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. local time, shows Curiosity’s shadow on Mars. I can see it floating above. surface of Mars. The robot effectively functions as a basic sundial.
Curiosity’s ground team had hoped to see Martian clouds and dust devils blowing across the planet’s surface in the 25-frame video, but the footage didn’t show any notable weather.
This video shows a valley carved into Mount Sharp, or Mount Aeolis, a 3-mile (5-kilometer) mountain in the Gale Crater region of the Red Planet. Curiosity has been exploring the region since it landed in 2012 and remains in good health.