NASA Recently Released the Highest Resolution Photo Ever of the Surface of Mars

Will we see a person set foot on Mars in our lifetime?

That remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure, we sure seem to be getting a better understanding of what’s going on up there, thanks to NASA’s Curiosity Rover.

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The Rover landed on Mars on August 6, 2012, and has been exploring the red planet and sending back wonderful photos ever since.

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The folks at NASA said the image was taken when workers were out for the Thanksgiving holiday.

They added,

“Sitting still with few tasks to do while awaiting the team to return and provide its next commands, the rover had a rare chance to image its surroundings from the same vantage point several days in a row.”

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Here is the newly released, 1.8 BILLION pixel image of the landscape of Mars. It’s a panorama composed of 1,000 separate images taken by the Curiosity Rover.

Photo Credit: NASA

WOW!

The image took six-and-a-half hours over the course of four days to get the perfect panorama. The Rover only took photos during noon and 2 p.m. to get the exact lighting for the shots.

Here’s a video about the epic shot taken by the Rover.