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

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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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Curiosity took this selfie in the "Glen Etive" area in the northern rim of Gale Crater on Sol 2553 (2019-10-11). About 984ft/300m away in the background is the previously explored 'Vera Rubin Ridge'. This image is composed of 57 individuals images captured by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (#MAHLI). The images are then stitched together removing the rover's arm and #MAHLI camera from this selfie. Instagram contrast enhanced photo, no filters.

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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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After exploring for the past year, Curiosity is leaving the 'Vera Rubin Ridge' area to continue climbing Mount Sharp (#AeolisMons). Using its accelerometers to detect small gravitational changes, #Curiosity has determined Mount Sharp is not as dense as originally thought. This image was taken by the Left-side #MastCam on Sol 2304 (2019-01-29 13:22:41 UTC). Instagram contrast enhanced photo, no filter.

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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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This low-angle 'selfie' of Curiosity was captured by the Mars Hand Lens Imager #MAHLI and stitched together from dozens of images. You'll see the drill dust from the "Buckskin" rock target where #Curiosity collected its seventh soil sample. This was the first drilling operation since an intermittent short circuit was identified in early 2015. Software changes were made to Curiosity's fault protection and drill percuss circuit telemetry was upgraded to better diagnose future issues if they occur. This image was composed on Sol 1065 (2015-08-05). Instagram contrast enhanced photo.

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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.

Pretty awesome, right?

Do you think you’ll see Mars colonized in your lifetime? Or do you think we’ll even get to Mars anytime soon?

Share your thoughts with us in the comments!