A few weeks ago, NASA’s robotic Mars explorers got a break from their hard work at the agency, a natural phenomenon that could interfere with their communications. Before the pause, the Curiosity rover was parked but its Hazcams were taking pictures. For the first time, Curiosity recorded the changes in the Martian day over 12 hours from a stationary position, capturing the shadow that moves across the landscape as the Sun moves from dawn to dusk. It retains these images until the conjunction ends on November 25th.
Curiosity was reportedly instructed to record a 12-hour sequence in the days leading up to the conjunction in mid-November. The idea is to see if it can capture any weather events that may occur. While that ultimately didn’t happen, the images captured by Curiosity on November 8 are still fascinating. They were pieced together into two videos showing views from its front and rear hazard cameras.
Curiosity’s hazard camera is typically used to help drivers avoid terrain that could be hazardous to the rover. But with the rover parked before suspending its mission from November 11 to 25, the cameras were freed up for some sightseeing. Curiosity recorded from its position at the base of Mount Sharp on Mars from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It and other Mars rovers have since returned to normal duties.
This article was originally published on Engadget: https://www.engadget.com/nasas-curiosity-rover-snapped-this-dreamy-timelapse-of-a-martian-day-175701537.html?src=rss
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