NASA Shows Curiosity Rover Moving From Mars Orbit

Slowly but surely moving

NASA has released an image of the Curiosity rover taken from Mars orbit, showing the vehicle moving across the Red Planet. The image, taken on February 28, 2025, by the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), shows Curiosity as a tiny dot leaving tracks about 320 meters long. This is the first time the rover has been photographed moving, rather than standing still.

NASA Shows Curiosity Rover Moving From Mars Orbit — © NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Curiosity, which arrived on Mars in 2012, is currently exploring the crater. The tracks visible in the image were formed during 11 trips, starting on February 2, at a speed of about 0.16 km/h. The rover is controlled by a combination of commands from Earth and autonomous systems that allow it to overcome difficult terrain. MRO, which has been in orbit since 2006, not only takes pictures, but also searches for traces of ancient water and serves as a relay for communications with rovers.

Curiosity’s footprints could last for months before Martian winds erase them, NASA says. The rover is now heading toward an area with possible groundwater, which could reveal new secrets about Mars’s past.

Source: digitaltrends