Winter has cleared the air of Mars of dust and given a chance to capture a new, amazing panorama of the red Curiosity.
On July 3, while climbing the slopes of Mount Sharp, which rises in the middle of Gale Grater, the curiosity stopped and the cameras won.
At that time, the curiosity was about 460 meters above the landing site. From such a height, the view to the edges of the crater is about 32 kilometers.
A 360-degree view taken from 129 individual photographs depicting a variety of landscapes, including volcanic sand, clay-and-sulfate-rich rocks scattered around; It is these rocks that hide the secret of how the red planet once lost water.
For nine years now, Curiosity has been exploring the Gale Crater. According to scientists, this place was once a lake that dried up 3.5 billion years ago. In its center rises Mount Sharp, which is 5.5 kilometers from the bottom of the crater.
The walker currently climbs the slopes of Sharpe Mountain and is in a transition zone of rock-rich rocks in the basin that point to a damp, watery past.
The panorama also shows the place where Maval drilled and took the 32nd rock samples.
“The rocks there tell us how the once wet planet turned into as dry as it is today, as well as how long a life-sustaining environment has survived since then,” said Abigail Freeman, NASA’s deputy director of curiosity.
According to researchers, sulfate-rich, convex rocks are formed by flowing groundwater.
Soon, the curiosity will reach the valley under one rounded hill. Freeman suggests taking even more magnificent photos from there and taking more samples of the rocks.
Analysis of chemicals and minerals in Martian rocks provides important information about how this environment dried up and whether there was ever enough water there to be sufficient for microbial life.
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