NASA’s Curiosity Rover rover takes a selfie at New Mars Find

In early March, it was Rover Curiosity Mars from NASA It began to approach an impressive rock formation that scientists called “Monte Merco” in Mati, a nickname taken from a wonderful mountain in France and here we tell you why.

The ledge is about 6 meters high, and it was captured with all its majesty Selfie of a brand new RoverPlus some panoramic photos that provide a 3D rendering. The Curiosity portrait shows off Mont Mercou with a new drilling hole nearby in a rock sample called “Nontron”, Sample # 30 from the mission to date.

The Curiosity drill crushed the sample before inserting it into tools inside the rover so the science team could better understand rock formation and the clues it might provide about Mars’s past, according to NASA.

This area is in transition between the “mud carrier unit” abandoned by Curiosity and the “sulfate carrier unit” at the top of Mount Sharp, the 5-kilometer-high mountain on which the rover has accumulated since 2014. Scientists have always believed that this transition could be possible To reveal what happened to Mars when it became the desert planet we see today.

What is Monte Merco and why was the region discovered on Mars with that name?

The French Mont Mercou is located near the village of Nontron in the southeast of the country. The team chose Nontron-related nicknames for this part of the Red Planet because Martian orbits discovered nontronite, a type of clay mineral found near Nontron in the region. Surface missions assign titles to landmarks to provide members of the expedition team with a common way to refer to rocks, soil, and other geological features of interest.

The “selfie” consists of 60 images taken by a Mars Hand Lens Photographer (MAHLI) on the rover’s robotic arm on March 26, 2021, 3070 or the Mars Sun Day of the mission. These images were combined with 11 photos the Mastcam took on the mast, or rover’s “head,” on March 16, 2021.

Curiosity also provided a pair of Mastcam panoramas on March 4, 2021. By taking a panorama from about 40 meters from the outcrop, then turning to the side and photographing another from the same distance, the vehicle created a similar stereoscopic effect. For those who watch in 3D viewers. Studying the outcrop from more than one angle helps scientists get a better idea of ​​the three-dimensional geometry of Mount Merko’s sedimentary layers.

In addition to the stereo and selfie view, Curiosity captures a 360-degree panorama of Monte Merko and its surroundings with the Mastcam.

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