The postcard is an artistic interpretation of the landscape, adding color to two black and white panoramas captured by Curiosity’s navigation camera
Published Date – Thu 15 Jun 23 at 01:00am
Photo: IANS
Washington: The Curiosity rover took a “postcard” of morning and afternoon lights on the surface of Mars, according to NASA.
The postcard is an artistic interpretation of the landscape, adding color to two black-and-white panoramas captured by Curiosity’s navigation camera.
These views were taken at 9:20 am and 3:40 pm local time on April 8, providing dramatically different lighting.
“Two shots in one day create dark shadows because the light is coming in from the left and right, like on a stage — but instead of stage lights, we’re relying on the sun,” said Curiosity engineer Doug Ellison. The head of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California planned and processed the images in a statement.
Blue is added to the part of the postcard shot in the morning, and yellow to the part shot in the afternoon.
Curiosity sits at the foot of Mount Sharp, a 5-kilometer-high mountain in Gale Crater, where the rover has been exploring since it landed in 2012.
Far beyond its orbit is the Marker Belt Valley, a winding region in the “sulfate zone” where the rover found unexpected signs of an ancient lake.
Farther down are two mountains — “Bolivar” and “Deepdale” — between which Curiosity travels while exploring the “Paraitepuy Pass.”
Adding to the shadows, Curiosity’s location was taken during winter — a period when there is less dust in the air — when the photo was taken.
“When there is less dust, the shadow of Mars becomes sharper and deeper, and when there is more dust, its shadow becomes softer,” Ellison added.
Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012 to assess whether Mars ever had an environment capable of supporting small life forms called microbes.
