Short Snippet of Mars Is Now Available on YouTube

Far from being a Sci-Fi 3D rendered imagining of it, but a real short snippet of Mars is now available on YouTube in 360 degree view video. This video has been pieced together from several images that were taken by the Curiosity Rover on Mars on December 18^th of 2015. The video was released by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and depicts the surface of the red planet as it is near the Namib Dune.

Cracked ground, sand dunes and Mount Sharp await the user to witness a scenery that is not so different from what you would expect on our own planet. With the only possible exception being that you would think that kind of scenery is the result of scorching temperatures, whereas Mars barely exceeds 70 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) during summertime at the equator.

The images that form the video were captured on what was Curiosity’s 1,197^th Martian day (sol – term used for solar days) on the planet and gives anyone the chance to experience the way Mars would look if you were mounted atop the rover.

The Curiosity is a car-sized rover that was originally launched off of the surface of the earth on November 26^th, 2011 and only reached the surface of Mars on Earth day August 6^th, 2012. Ever since, it has been travelling across the plains of the planet, studying various rock formations and climate conditions in order to prepare mankind for its own descent on the planet – whenever that will be.

The Curiosity rover is equipped with a multitude of cameras and instruments that allow it to do more than just feed images and video of the surface of Mars. Firstly, it uses a high resolution camera to look for features of interest, it has an inbuilt infrared laser that can examine the rock elemental composition and even transform it into an advanced study via a microscope and X-ray spectrometer.

Along with the multitude of navigational cams, environmental monitoring stations, hazard avoidance cameras and the mast camera, Curiosity also holds various in-depth study tools that can quickly determine the nature of elements found in the soil, determine potentially unsafe zones where radiation levels are higher as well as a robotic arm that can make use of 5 different devices.

The mission that was originally planned to only last for 687 days (668 sols) has been decided to be made indefinite. During the time that the rover will continue to function on the surface of Mars, it will continue to study the biological, geological and geochemical processes and occurrences on the planet. While there is a focus set on whether microbial life was ever existent on Mars, the rover also plays a vital role in determining the conditions of mankind’s first step on the planet’s surface in person.

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Deborah Campbell

Deborah Campbell grew up on a steady diet of fantasy stories, 19th century poetry and Greek mythology. It’s no wonder she turned into such a hopeless romantic. She has always had a knack for writing, but she has yet to publish any best-seller yet. At the beginning of 2013 she decided to try something a little different: she started working for a web design firm, as a creative artist. That’s where she discovered her second calling. Although seemingly opposite, fantasy and technology are Deborah’s two main passions. She is now part of the argyllfreepress.com team, for which she creates detailed tutorials & reviews for some of the world’s most exciting gadgets. She also tries to squeeze a verse or two in her reviews from time to time.