Curiosity sends back 360-degree panoramic photo of Mars

The Curiosity Rover’s landing on Mars was a successful one, and it is time to get down and dirty on the Red Planet. In fact, Curiosity has certainly lived up to its name by sending back another photo on Thursday – this time around, it outdoes the previous photo sent, as this is the first 360-degree color panorama snapshot of the Gale Crater in the world, or should I say, galaxy, barring any other forms of intelligent life outside the sphere of earth of course. What you see above was provided by the folks over at NASA themselves, and scientists are taken in by the majestic vista of red dust, dark sand dunes and tan-hued rocks.

Far away in the distance, you can see the base of Mount Sharp, which is a three-mile-high mountain that rises from the crater floor, and it is one of the many destinations that the six-wheel Curiosity Rover intends to traverse. Curiosity’s mission timeframe would be two years, where it will analyze rocks and soil to look for the potential chemical building blocks that are required to kick start life.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Gadgets
Tags: curiosity, mars, rover