Curiosity Rover takes 360 degree view of itself and surroundings

(Source NASA) – This right-eye member of a stereo pair of images from the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows a full 360-degree view of the rover’s surroundings at the site where it first drilled into a rock. Mount Sharp appears on the southern horizon.

The Navcam took the component images during the 166th, 168th and 169th Martian days, or sols, of Curiosity’s work on Mars (Jan. 23, 25 and 26, 2013). In the center foreground, the rover’s arm holds the tool turret above a target called “Wernecke” on the “John Klein” patch of pale-veined mudstone. On Sol 169, Curiosity used its dust-removing brush and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on Wernecke (seehttp://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16790).

About two weeks later, Curiosity used its drill at a point about 1 foot (30 centimeters) to the right of Wernecke to collect the first drilled sample from the interior of a rock on Mars. This anaglyph was made with the images as captured by the Curiosity. Another version with the seams in the sky eliminated and cropped for optimal 3-D viewing can be seen at PIA16925.

A stereo version of the scene, which appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left, is available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16847 .