On Aug. 5, 2012, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover landed safely on the Red Planet.
In this self-portrait from 2018, Curiosity sits atop Vera Rubin Ridge, which the rover had been investigating. Directly behind the rover is the start of a clay-rich slope scientists eagerly explored. North is on the left and west is on the right, with Gale Crater’s rim on the horizon of both edges.
Poking up just behind Curiosity’s mast is Mount Sharp, photobombing the robot’s selfie. Curiosity landed on Mars with the intention of studying lower Mount Sharp, where it will remain for all of its time on Mars. The mountain’s base provides access to layers formed over millions of years. These layers formed in the presence of water—likely due to a lake or lakes that sat at the bottom of the mountain, which sits inside Gale Crater.
This mosaic was assembled from dozens of images taken by Curiosity’s Mars Hands Lens Imager on Jan. 23, 2018, during Sol 1943.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS