NASA rover takes a picture of dawn on Mars

NASA has shown a new picture of early morning on Mars. The picture was taken by Curiosity, a NASA rover^*1 that drives on Mars. NASA showed it to the public on October 6.

Curiosity took the picture on August 11 with its camera, Mastcam. It was 8:30 in the morning on Mars. It was also the 4,982nd day of the mission^*2 on Mars. The picture is a panorama^*3. NASA made it from six smaller pictures. NASA did not change the colors, so the picture shows how the early morning on Mars really looks.

The picture shows a group of yardangs^*4. They lie on the northwest side of Mount Sharp, a mountain on Mars, and they stretch for about 16 kilometers (10 miles).

Mount Sharp is about 5 kilometers high. Curiosity has been climbing it since 2014. It has now climbed about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles). No rover has ever climbed so high on Mars.

Curiosity will keep climbing. NASA hopes the rover will reach the bottom of the yardangs in 2027.

1. *1 rover: a small car with no driver that moves around on another planet
2. *2 mission: a big job in space, like sending a rover to a planet and studying it
3. *3 panorama: a very wide picture that shows everything from one side to the other
4. *4 yardangs: long hills of rock made when the wind cuts away the ground for a very long time