NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spots Curiosity rover on Mars

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has spotted the Curiosity rover, which appears as a dark speck in the Gale Crater on Mars. 

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spots the Curiosity rover on Mars on December 29, 2023
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spots the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars from orbit on December 29, 2023. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured Curiosity on December 29, 2023, and NASA’s JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), which manages both the MRO and Curiosity, released this image on March 1, 2024.

This powerful camera is capable of viewing objects as small as a dinner table on the Martian surface from Mars orbit. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been orbiting Mars since 2006. 

It is an area within the Gale Crater where the striped dark and light bands are seen. NASA’s Curiosity rover is taking a closer look here because the scientists are interested to know what kind of materials on the surface created these alternating bands.

NASA’s Curiosity rover has been operating on Mars since 2012. It landed inside the Gale Crater on Mars on August 6, 2012.

The 154-kilometer-diameter Gale Crater formed about 3.5 to 3.8 billion years ago when a meteor hit Mars.

The Curiosity rover made its first drive on the surface of Mars on August 22, 2012, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured the track of the first drive of Curiosity from orbit using its High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captures the track of the first drive of Curiosity from orbit on August 22, 2012
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captures the track of the first drive of Curiosity from orbit on August 22, 2012. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

Currently, NASA’s two rovers, Perseverance and Curiosity, are operating on Mars.

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get latest space news, upcoming skywatching events and astronomy-related content.

Photo of author

About the Author

Ashim

Ashim Chandra Sarkar founded Space & Telescope in 2022. He holds a M.Sc. in physics and has five years of research experience in optical astronomy. His passion for astronomy inspired him to open this website. He is responsible for the editorial vision of spaceandtelescope.com.

Related Articles

The International Space Station is viewed from a camera aboard the approaching SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft

NASA instrument arrives at ISS to demonstrate quantum entanglement

FacebookTweetPinShares NASA’s SEAQUE (Space Entanglement and Annealing Quantum Experiment) instrument has arrived at the International ...

Ryan Connor captured the fireball that burned over Lake Erie on October 21, 2024, from North Royalton, US

Brilliant fireball lights up the skies over Lake Erie on October 21

FacebookTweetPinShares A brilliant fireball lights up the skies over Lake Erie on the evening of ...

Mechazilla launch tower catches the Starship Super Heavy booster rocket after returning on the fifth test flight

SpaceX catches mammoth Starship booster rocket on its 5th test flight

FacebookTweetPinShares Elon Musk’s company SpaceX has caught the lower part of Starship (called the Super ...

An artist’s illustration of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun

Parker Solar Probe completes its 21st close approach to the sun

FacebookTweetPinShares NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has completed its 21st close approach (called perihelion) to the ...

Leave a Comment