Portfolio Naples July/August 2022 | Page 61

May 04 , 2021
NASA ’ s Curiosity Mars rover took this 360-degree panorama while atop “ Mont Mercou ,” a rock formation that offered a view into Gale Crater below . The panorama is stitched together from 132 individual images taken on April 15 , 2021 , the 3,090th Martian day , or sol , of the mission . The panorama has been white-balanced so that the colors of the rock materials resemble how they would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth .
The rover ’ s Mast Camera , or Mastcam , provided the panorama . Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates Mastcam . A division of Caltech , NASA ’ s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built the Curiosity rover and manages the Curiosity rover for the agency ’ s Science Mission Directorate in Washington .
For more about Curiosity , visit https :// mars . nasa . gov / msl / home / or https :// www . nasa . gov / mission _ pages / msl / index . html .
Credit : NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS
Right , August 04 , 2021
This 3D view of an area the Mars Perseverance rover team calls " Raised Ridges " was created from data collected by NASA ' s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during its 10th flight at Mars on July 24 , 2021 . The stereo images of the geologic feature were taken at the request of the Mars Perseverance rover science team , which was considering visiting the ridges during the first science campaign . On Earth , similar fractures in desert environments might be a clue to past liquid water activity and thus past habitability .
The 3D view ( or anaglyph ) is best viewed with red-blue glasses . It was created by combining data from two images taken meters apart by the RTE camera aboard Ingenuity . At the time the two images were taken , Ingenuity was at an altitude of 40 feet ( 12 meters ).
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL , which also manages the technology demonstration project for NASA Headquarters . It is supported by NASA ' s Science , Aeronautics Research , and Space Technology mission directorates . NASA ' s Ames Research Center in California ' s Silicon Valley , and NASA ' s Langley Research Center in Hampton , Virginia , provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity ' s development . AeroVironment Inc ., Qualcomm , and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components . Lockheed Martin Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System .
For more about Curiosity , visit https :// mars . nasa . gov / msl / home / or https :// www . nasa . gov / mission _ pages / msl / index . html . Credit : NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS
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