Curiosity Mars rover spotted from orbit – Astronomy Now – Astronomy Now Online
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover can be seen in this image taken from space on 31 May 2019, by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). In the image, Curiosity appears as a bluish speck.
The image shows Curiosity at a location called “Woodland Bay.” It’s just one of many stops the rover has made in an area referred to as the “clay-bearing unit” on the side of Mount Sharp, a 5-kilometre-tall (3-mile-tall) mountain inside of Gale Crater.
Look carefully at the inset image (click on the image to zoom in), and you can make out what it is likely Curiosity’s “head,” technically known as the remote sensing mast. A bright spot appears in the upper-left corner of the rover. At the time this image was acquired, the rover was facing 65 degrees counterclockwise from north, which would put the mast in about the right location to produce this bright spot.
