Those interested in exploring Mars have new NASA footage courtesy of the Curiosity rover. The footage features 360-degree video taken on April 4 from the car-sized spacecraft. The panoramic video shows mountainous terrain and a grey-blue sky.
The Curiosity rover, which has been on the red planet since 2012, recorded some of the “highest viewpoints” on the Naukluft Plateau from its Mastcam. "The scenes show wind-sculpted textures in the sandstone bedrock close to the rover, and Gale Crater's rim rising above the crater floor in the distance," said NASA in a statement. "Mount Sharp stands in the middle of the crater, which is about 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter."
Scientists analyze the wear and tear of the rover’s six wheels in order to make conclusions about the terrain. "We carefully inspect and trend the condition of the wheels," said Steve Lee, Curiosity's deputy project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in a statement. "Cracks and punctures have been gradually accumulating at the pace we anticipated, based on testing we performed at JPL. Given our longevity projections, I am confident these wheels will get us to the destinations on Mount Sharp that have been in our plans since before landing."
With the Naukluft Plateau, the scientists found that “while the terrain presented challenges for navigation, driving across it did not accelerate damage to the wheels.”
