Nasa mars rover pictures9/12/2023 The image peers past the rear of the rover, providing a glimpse of its three antennas and nuclear power source. ![]() “Mars’ shadows get sharper and deeper when there’s low dust and softer when there’s lots of dust,” Ellison added. “Capturing two times of day provides dark shadows because the lighting is coming in from the left and the right, like you might have on a stage – but instead of stage lights, we’re relying on the Sun.”Īdding to the depth of the shadows is the fact that it was winter – a period of lower airborne dust – at Curiosity’s location when the images were taken. “Anyone who’s been to a national park knows the scene looks different in the morning than it does in the afternoon,” said Curiosity engineer Doug Ellison of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, who planned and processed the images. Farther below (at center and just to the right) are two hills – “Bolívar” and “Deepdale” – that Curiosity drove between while exploring “Paraitepuy Pass.” In the distance beyond its tracks is Marker Band Valley, a winding area in the “ sulfate-bearing region” within which the rover discovered unexpected signs of an ancient lake. Curiosity is in the foothills of Mount Sharp, which stands 3 miles (5 kilometers) high within Gale Crater, where the rover has been exploring since landing in 2012. ![]() Figure A is an annotated version of the postcard noting geographic features and elements of the rover. The wheels are holding up well, providing the traction we need to continue our climb.Curiosity's 'Postcard' of 'Marker Band Valley' (Figure A): NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its black-and-white navigation cameras to capture panoramas at two times of day on April 8, 2023. Due to recent trends, it seems unlikely that we would need to take such action. “If we ever reached the point that a single wheel had broken a majority of its grousers, we could do a controlled break to shed the pieces that are left. “We have proven through ground testing that we can safely drive on the wheel rims if necessary,” said Megan Lin, Curiosity’s project manager at JPL. A traction control algorithm had slowed wheel wear enough to justify increasing the distance between imaging. The team has decided to increase its wheel imaging to every 1,640 feet (500 meters) – a return to the original cadence. The previously damaged grousers attracted attention online recently because some of the metal “skin” between them appears to have fallen out of the wheel in the past few months, leaving a gap. This particular wheel already had four broken grousers, so now five of its 19 grousers are broken. The team discovered that the left middle wheel had damaged one of its grousers, the zig-zagging treads along Curiosity’s wheels. ![]() On June 4, the engineering team commanded Curiosity to take new pictures of its wheels – something it had been doing every 3,281 feet (1,000 meters) to check their overall health. The rover’s aluminum wheels are also showing signs of wear. They suspect safe mode was triggered after a temperature sensor provided an inaccurate measurement, and there’s no sign it will significantly affect rover operations since backup temperature sensors can ensure the electronics within the rover body aren’t getting too hot. Although Curiosity exited safe mode and returned to normal operations two days later, JPL’s engineers are still analyzing the exact cause of the issue.
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