Thanks to NASA, we can now get to know the Red Planet a little better.
Is it possible to switch planets yet? Because, as you may have noticed, Earth has gotten pretty hectic as of late. Here’s what you’d be signing up for if you picked Mars… (Featured Image: NASA)
The highest resolution pictures of Mars even taken were released earlier this month. Taken by NASA’s Curiosity Rover during Thanksgiving 2019, the shots depict an HD panorama of the now not-so-mysterious planet. A 650 million pixel panorama shot that includes the rover can be viewed alongside a 1.8 billion pixel view without the vehicle.
HD images were formed using over 1,000 shots taken between 24 November and 1 December. Curiosity Rover’s telephoto lens provided the team with all the necessary snaps of Mars to create the images.
Shots were all taken between 12pm-2pm, Mars local time, to ensure the lighting remained consistent. Both panoramas were taken at “Glen Torridon” region which is on the side of Mount Sharp.
“While many on our team were at home enjoying turkey, Curiosity produced this feast for the eyes” said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He continued: “This is the first time during the mission we’ve dedicated our operations to a stereo 360-degree panorama.”
This giant resolution image of Mars follows 2013’s 1.3 billion pixel shot taken by the rover.
So, as many families sat at home by choice on Thanksgiving, the Rover collected the source material for this masterpiece. Now, as Earth is overtaken by a global pandemic and forces many of us to remain indoors, the result of the craftwork can be admired.
Let’s go to Mars for a beer and wait for this to all blow over, shall we?