A curious look back
February 4, 2018 10:08 AM Subscribe
"NASA’s Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada gives a descriptive tour of the Mars rover's view in Gale Crater. The scene from 'Vera Rubin Ridge' looks back over the journey so far, including buttes, dunes and other features along the route." Also check out Curiosity's selfie, taken on Sol 1943: From the South Rim of Vera Rubin Ridge: "Having spent 1943 sols on the surface of Mars, Curiosity is in its 6th Earth year on Mars, but it is in its 3rd Mars year of exploration. That means Curiosity has encountered this season of the year twice before." The ridge is named for the late American astronomer Vera Rubin (previously), who was responsible for discovering evidence of dark matter (also previously).
More seriously, though: I'm struck by how *un*-alien this landscape is. I could believe it to be, like, somewhere in the Atacama Desert.
posted by tivalasvegas at 6:05 PM on February 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by tivalasvegas at 6:05 PM on February 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
It would be nice to have some idea of scale in the tour. The only size references were noting the 50 miles to a distant mountain, and that the nearer mountain ridge reached a mile higher than the rover. How big are the Buttes, and how far has Curiosity traveled?
posted by anadem at 10:03 PM on February 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by anadem at 10:03 PM on February 4, 2018 [1 favorite]
how far has Curiosity traveled?
It clocks something like a kilometre and a half per year, depending on the terrain, so my guess is it's at about 15 kilometres by now (it passed 10 kilometres in 2015 anyway).
I'm struck by how *un*-alien this landscape is.
This is why I always have to brace myself before clicking on any hi-res color images of Mars. It's got this uncanny valley on a planetary level going on that freaks me right out.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 12:33 AM on February 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
It clocks something like a kilometre and a half per year, depending on the terrain, so my guess is it's at about 15 kilometres by now (it passed 10 kilometres in 2015 anyway).
I'm struck by how *un*-alien this landscape is.
This is why I always have to brace myself before clicking on any hi-res color images of Mars. It's got this uncanny valley on a planetary level going on that freaks me right out.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 12:33 AM on February 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
There's a map at the bottom of this page with a scale and some features marked out. The rover has climbed up on to the edge of the central crater mountain and is looking North at the rim, over about 20km of flat ground.
Here's a view from Great Gable in Cumbria. The coastline there is about 20km away, so imagine the foothills of the rim mountains jutting up from there, and I think the far side of the lake is roughly representative in distance and height for where Curiosity landed.
posted by lucidium at 6:21 AM on February 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
Here's a view from Great Gable in Cumbria. The coastline there is about 20km away, so imagine the foothills of the rim mountains jutting up from there, and I think the far side of the lake is roughly representative in distance and height for where Curiosity landed.
posted by lucidium at 6:21 AM on February 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by tivalasvegas at 6:04 PM on February 4, 2018