Want CNET to notify you of price drops and the latest stories?
No, thank you Accept
X
6 Tips for Choosing Contact LensesiOS 17 Wish ListAI in FitnessShokz Headphones on SaleMeal Subscription vs. TakeoutBest Solar CompaniesVerizon 5G Home InternetBest Credit Cards

Curiosity's stunning new selfie

Exploring a gorgeous panorama of Mars shows Curiosity on the red planet posing before the hole she drilled into the rock.

michellestarr2.jpg
michellestarr2.jpg
Michelle Starr Science editor
Michelle Starr is CNET's science editor, and she hopes to get you as enthralled with the wonders of the universe as she is. When she's not daydreaming about flying through space, she's daydreaming about bats.
See full bio
Michelle Starr
2 min read

Curiosity proudly displaying her work. Click to view full size.
(Credit: NASA, California Institute of Technology, Malin Space Science Systems; Andrew Bodrov)

Exploring a gorgeous panorama of Mars shows Curiosity on the red planet posing before the hole she drilled into the rock.

Curiosity showing off her drill-skillz.(Credit: NASA, California Institute of Technology, Malin Space Science Systems)

While we go about our daily lives here on Earth, Curiosity is busy beavering away up there on Mars. Just a few days ago, she drilled into the surface and collected her first sample — the first rover to do so off Earth, according to NASA.

She's also been snapping away, sending back images of herself posing in the Martian landscape like an enthusiastic relative on their first trip to Rome. Not that we're complaining.

This latest image has been stitched into a panorama, showing her perching jauntily on the John Klein platform while the Gale Crater stretches out in all directions below. It's composed of photos taken with Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), which is operated using a robotic arm, and the rover's Mastcams.

Curiosity is equipped with a total of 17 cameras for snapping the Martian landscape — but you never see any camera arms in the rover's selfies. That's because the shots sent back cut out any sections that show the arm, so we get clean images like the one seen above.

It's pretty stunning, right? But that's not all &mdash photographer Andrew Bodrov stitched the shots together into an amazing 360-degree interactive panorama that you can explore like Google Street View.

Via apod.nasa.gov