Curiosity Rover Says Goodbye to Its Home of a Year With Superb Panoramic

The whirl terrain of Vera Rubin Ridge on Mars has been home to NASA ’s Curiosity for over a class , but it ’s time for the rover to move on . As a final gesture before trekking toward a nearby region ample in mud , the probe captured a sensational 360 - degree panorama of its last worksite at the ridge .

Along with NASA’sInSight lander , Curiosity is now one of only two function investigation on the Martian surface . The Opportunity rover has been incommunicado since a monumental debris storm encircled the planet last summer , strike hard it out of commission , possibly forever and a day . Curiosity , which has been exploring the Martian Earth’s surface since 2012 , go forward to truck on , despitebadly worn wheels , a Mandrillus leucophaeus that required someserious jerry - rigginglast year to make it cultivate again , anda memory glitch that limit its capacities .

curio is in Gale Crater where it ’s been exploring iron - rich mineral in Vera Rubin Ridge for well over a class . datum gathered by the probe suggests rocks within this ridge formed from deposit that collect at the bottom of a now - dried up Martian lake . As to why these rocks are n’t gnaw at at the same rate of the bedrock around it , however , rest a whodunit .

Having explored the arena in detail , project scientists at NASA have now directed the investigation to maneuver towards a raw region — a “ stiff - bearing unit ” dubbed Glen Torridon , accordingto a NASA button . The wanderer will spend around a yr explore this region in its ongoing search for signs of anterior habitability .

On December 19 , 2018 , Curiosity used its Mast Camera to capture a 360 - level panoramic image of its terminal work area at Vera Rubin Ridge , specifically a drill land site known as Rock Hall . The composite paradigm comprise of 112 photographs , show the future work field , the floor of Gale Crater , and the majestic Mount Sharp in the background . The colors in the image were adjusted to show what the rocks and sand would depend like under daylight condition on Earth .

Curiosity ’s raw work orbit , delineate as a public treasury between Vera Rubin Ridge and the craggy area surrounding the crater , look promising in terms of its scientific potential . anterior surveys made by NASA ’s Mars orbiter paint a picture the rocks in this part are filled with phyllosilicates — clay mineral that form in water . Data gather at Glen Torridon could tell us more about the ancient lake that once peppered Gale Crater during the early history of the Red Planet .

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.

“ In addition to indicate a previously wet surround , clay mineral are known to trap and carry on organic molecule , ” Curiosity projection scientist Ashwin Vasavada said in a statement . “ That makes this area specially promising , and the squad is already surveying the field for its next drill situation . ”

Indeed , Curiosity has already uncovered traces of clay mineral and organic molecules on Mars . On their own , organic are n’t indicative of life , but they are the raw ingredients need for life story . The anterior comportment of liquid water and organic molecules on the airfoil suggests the planet was once up to of fostering animation , but more data is involve to prove it . By exploring the clay - rich depository at Glen Torridon , Curiosity may bring out evidence of the prior environments in which this hypothesized Martian life-time could have come forth .

If scientists can ever prove that Mars was once inhabitable ( as opposed to actually fostering animation — those are two different thing ) , it means our Solar System once hosted at least two satellite open of hosting biography . That ’s a huge deal if true , with serious ramifications to our understanding of the Universe ’s potential to bear life in general . To that end : Trek on Curiosity , trek on .

William Duplessie