It’s not simply people who find themselves sharing what they’re grateful for throughout Thanksgiving in the present day — Mars rovers are, too.
In a put up on X, NASA’s Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars in 2012, shared a message saying: “These gorgeous views of the Purple Planet are a reminder of how huge and mysterious our universe is. What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving?”
Accompanying the put up is a remarkably detailed view of the rover’s rocky environment on the distant planet.
These gorgeous views of the Purple Planet are a reminder of how huge and mysterious our universe is…
What are you grateful for this #Thanksgiving? pic.twitter.com/sev9fq1Pzw
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) November 28, 2024
One in every of Curiosity’s many mission objectives is to evaluate Mars’ habitability by figuring out whether or not the planet might as soon as have supported microbial life. It’s additionally been working to characterize the martian local weather and geology, and collect knowledge that could be helpful for future human exploration of Mars, which might start within the coming many years.
A few of its notable achievements to this point embrace the invention of key life-supporting parts akin to sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen, suggesting that the planet might certainly have had environments that had been capable of help microbial life. NASA’s newer Mars rover, Perseverance, is following up by trying to find indicators of historical microbial life itself, and has been making some interesting discoveries in that subject.
Curiosity’s high-resolution cameras have additionally supplied visible proof of an historical streambed, indicating that liquid water as soon as flowed on the Martian floor.
However the ongoing work is taking its toll on the getting old rover, with latest pictures showing very obvious damage to its middle-right wheel. Thankfully, the rover’s wheels — even on this sorry state — are strong sufficient to deal with Mars’ rocky terrain.
Twelve years after its arrival, Curiosity is constant to discover Mars’ Gale Crater and Mount Sharp, making discoveries and sending back breathtaking imagery. And for that, we’re all very grateful.
