NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS via AP
This composite image made from a series of Jan. 23, 2018 photos shows a self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on Vera Rubin Ridge. The rover's arm which held the camera was positioned out of each of the dozens of shots which make up the mosaic.
- NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover recently sent back a series of photos showing the view of planet's Gale Crater from Vera Rubin Ridge.
- The rover also sent back a selfie with Mount Sharp in the background.
- In the past five and a half years, the rover has gone about 1,100 feet up and covered approximately 11 miles from its landing site.
NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover is still on the move.
The latest Rover selfie, seen above, is stitched together from a series of shots taken on the red planet's Vera Rubin Ridge inside Gale Crater. In the photo, the rover is on the base of Mount Sharp, which you can see peeking up behind the rover.
This is indeed a selfie - really, a series of them - but the arm holding the self-focusing camera was removed when the photos were all combined.
The Curiosity Rover has sent other fascinating images from the ridge, where it's been for the past few months. A new panorama shows the region, including the approximately 11-mile route the rover has covered in Gale Crater over the past five and a half years.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Climbing "Vera Rubin Ridge" provided NASA's Curiosity Mars rover this sweeping vista of the interior and rim of Gale Crater, including much of the rover's route during its first five-and-a-half years on Mars and features up to about 50 miles (85 kilometers) away.
In the segment from the photo below, you can see the rover's exact route away from Bradbury Landing site.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
At Yellowknife Bay in 2013, the mission found evidence of an ancient freshwater-lake environment that offered all of the basic chemical ingredients for microbial life.
The rover has climbed a little over 1,100 feet since it landed in 2012. Plans are for the rover to continue exploring the lower parts of Mount Sharp for the rest of its time on Mars. Next, it'll explore what appears to be a clay-rich slope, while continuing to send back data, photos, and the occasional selfie.
Check out a NASA video showing Curiosity's view from the ridge below.