Curiosity Views a Crater at ‘Jau’

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured this 360-degree view showing an impact crater in a location nicknamed “Jau.” The scene was captured with the rover’s Mastcam on July 25, 2023, the 3,899th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This was one of dozens of impact craters within a crater cluster Curiosity stopped by after completing one of its most difficult climbs ever.

This particular crater is estimated to be about 60 feet (18 meters) wide. Part of Curiosity’s robotic arm can be seen at right. In the center of the scene is the path back down a slope toward “Marker Band Valley,” which Curiosity passed through on its way to Jau. Beyond that are the floor and northern rim of Gale Crater.

This mosaic is made up of 129 images that were stitched together after being sent back to Earth. The color has been adjusted to match lighting conditions as the human eye would see them on Earth.

Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates Mastcam.

For more about Curiosity, visit: http://mars.nasa.gov/msl or https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html.