Updated Curiosity Self-Portrait at John Klein

  • Released Thursday, June 20, 2013
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In February 2013 NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity drilled its first hole into rock target John Klein. This updated self-portrait of Curiosity combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on February 3, 2013, with three additional exposures taken on May 10, 2013 to show the area after the drilling event. The updated area of the image is located in the lower-left quadrant and shows gray powder and two holes where the rover used its drill. Preliminary findings from analysis of the rock powder indicate that the location long ago had environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. The favorable conditions included the key elemental ingredients for life, an energy gradient that could be exploited by microbes, and water that was not harshly acidic or briny.

In February 2013 NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity drilled its first hole into rock target John Klein. This updated self-portrait of Curiosity combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on February 3, 2013

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See photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/?IDNumber=pia16937

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NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Thursday, June 20, 2013.
This page was last updated on Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 11:50 PM EDT.

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