This self-portrait shows the deck of NASA’s Curiosity rover from the rover’s Navigation camera. World History Archive/Newscom. License this from Newscom.com: whphotos057975
If you watched the live webcam of the NASA operators navigating the Curiosity rover through the atmosphere of Mars and successfully landing it, you witnessed a truly exhilarating sight. The intense countdowns, the cheers, and who could forget the mo-hawk guy? Well, it may be hard to believe, but the Curiosity rover has already enjoyed a full year on Mars and sent us back some of the most striking images we’ve ever seen from the red planet.
In celebration of the anniversary, engineers sent out a command to one of Curiosity’s instruments to play “Happy Birthday” as the rover took some time off from driving to commemorate the occasion. Even robots need a break to have some fun.
When Curiosity first landed, it had to wait two months before it could get to work, performing various health checks on its instruments and system. This took longer than usual due to the rover’s large size. Since then, it has explored intriguing spots near its landing site where three separate kinds of terrain intersected. It discovered rounded pebbles, which clearly indicate an ancient streambed. It also analyzed the chemistry of a rock into which it drilled and concluded that Gale Crater possessed the environment to support primitive life. Soon, Curiosity will set its sights on heading to Mount Sharp, its prime destination.
Looking back over the past year, Bethany Ehlmann, a member of the Curiosity rover team, said, “Exploration is a driver of innovation, now as in the days of the first seafaring navigators. There remain great challenges of exploration to be undertaken. In trying to do things that are hard, we learn something about ourselves. We explore the limits of our technology and then push beyond. Space is the 21st century frontier.”
Check out our great lightbox documenting the awesome year that Curiosity has had on Mars!
The lower slopes of Mount Sharp appear at the top of this image taken by the right Navigation Camera (Navcam) of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity at the end of a drive of about 135 feet (41 meters) during the 329th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s work on Mars (July 9, 2013). SIPA USA/NASA/Sipa USA/Newscom. License this from Newscom.com: sipaphotosfour207286
Jacqueline Storey, a press officer at the National Maritime Museum, poses for a photograph in front of images of Mars generated by NASA’s Curiosity Rover at their new Visions of the Universe exhibition, in Greenwich, London June 5, 2013. ANDREW WINNING/REUTERS/Newscom. License this from Newscom.com: rtrlfive914379
This image is from a series of test images to calibrate the 100-millimeter Mast Camera on NASA’s Curiosity rover, looking south-southwest from the rover’s landing site. World History Archive/Newscom. License this from Newscom.com: whphotos057989
Sept 16,2010 – Pasadena, California, USA. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory technician work with ”Curiosity” the new rover inside the JPL’s Spacecraft Assembly Facility. Gene Blevins/ZUMApress/Newscom. License this from Newscom.com: zumaamericastwo982236
Flight director for the Mars rover Curiosity, Bobak Ferdowsi (C), also known as NASA’s ‘Mohawk guy’, attend US President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, at the US Capitol in Washington DC, USA 12 February 2013. SHAWN THEW/EPA/Newscom. License this from Newscom.com: epaphotos747604
This photograph shows the Vehicle System Test Bed (VSTB) rover, a nearly identical copy to the Curiosity rover on Mars. World History Archive/Newscom. License this from Newscom.com: whphotos057954
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