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The photograph makes it clear that the rover, which arrived on Mars on August 6, 2012, has changed a lot in eight years on the red planet.
NASA’s Curiosity rover took a new selfie on Mars. The photo was taken in an area of the red planet called Mary Anning, in honor of a 19th-century English paleontologist whose discovery of marine reptile fossils has been ignored for generations due to their gender and class.
The rover, which reached Mars on August 6, 2012, has been there since last July, taking and analyzing drilling samples, the US Space Agency explained.
The self-portrait was created by imaging specialists, who combined 59 separate shots, made by Curiosity with the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), a camera installed on a special robotic arm, on October 25, 2020.
The photograph makes it clear that Curiosity has changed a lot in eight years on the red planet. The wheels of the rover and other elements of the hull are significantly worn and covered with Martian dust. Despite this, the device continues to fulfill its mission: it drills, collects rock samples, sends photographs and other scientific data back to Earth.
Next year, Curiosity will have a partner: the Perseverance rover, which NASA launched last July for the exploration of Mars as part of the mission. Mars-2020. The vehicle is expected to land on the red planet on February 18, 2021 in the Jezero crater.
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