The most surprising revelation from NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover — that methane is seeping from the surface of Gale Crater — has scientists scratching their heads.
The Ingenuity team has nicknamed the spot where the helicopter completed its final flight “Valinor Hills” after the fictional location in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels, which include “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
New research suggests the same conditions that created the cracks could have been favorable to the emergence of microscopic life. Scientists aren’t entirely sure how life began on Earth, but one prevailing theory posits that persistent cycles of wet and dry conditions on land helped assemble the
Wow 300 images captured by Curiosity to build a panoramic survey at her Sol 4175 location, ten days ago. This video show them at a rate of 10/second. It took about 50 minutes for the rover to complete this scan with her left mast camera.
Here is a 360° panorama captured by Curiosity at her current location, with North at center and South at both ends, on top of two large and small scale maps with her position.
There are many geological features in the panorama, can you find them in the maps?
NASA's Curiosity Captures Martian Morning, Afternoon in New 'Postcard' – NASA Mars Exploration (mars.nasa.gov)
Lighting from two times of day was combined for a stunning view of terrain that the rover is leaving behind.
NASA Surprised by Cracks in Ancient Martian Mud Discovered by Mars Curiosity Rover (scitechdaily.com)
New research suggests the same conditions that created the cracks could have been favorable to the emergence of microscopic life. Scientists aren’t entirely sure how life began on Earth, but one prevailing theory posits that persistent cycles of wet and dry conditions on land helped assemble the