Subscription Center
September 13, 2012 | 4
You can't take a spin on Mars without getting dirty.
The photo mosaic above shows three of the six wheels on NASA's Curiosity rover, already dusted with Mars dirt after just a month on the Red Planet. Curiosity snapped the shots of its wheels and underbelly using the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the end of the rover’s 2.1-meter robotic arm. MAHLI took the mosaic photos September 9, during a weeklong checkout of the robotic arm's functions.
The cutouts visible in Curiosity's wheels are used to estimate distance traveled by a process called visual odometry. (The cutouts also spell out "JPL" in Morse code in honor of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which manages the rover mission for NASA.)
Having worked out its robotic arm, Curiosity will soon proceed toward its first destination, a region about 400 meters distant called Glenelg, where multiple terrain types meet. The rover's ultimate destination, the much more distant Mount Sharp, rises in the background on the right side of this MAHLI mosaic.
See what we're tweeting about
Deadline: Jun 29 2013
Reward: $7,000 USD
The Seeker for this Challenge desires proposals for chemical methods that could rapidly degrade a dilute aqueous solution
Deadline: Jul 30 2013
Reward: $100,000 USD
The Seeker desires a method for producing pseudoephedrine products in such a way that it will be extremely difficult for clandestine che
Powered By: 
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
4 Comments
Add CommentGo Bot Go!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think I see Phoenix in the background!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm just kidding, I love you NASA! I wish I could truly see all the images and data you're gathering from this mission. It would be really nice since I remember hearing that you had tested the mineral detector and although I'm sure it was nothing it'd still be nice to know.
Godspeed Curiosity!
-Josh
I think this proves that the Apollo moon shot was faked. They really shot the supposed "moon landing" in Gale Crater. Just wait for a picture of the LEM and we will know they really did it on Mars. Case closed.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWait a minute here. Isn't texting and driving illegal? What kind of example does this set for young people here on earth?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this