The guys at NASA aren’t the only ones excited about what the Curiosity Rover will send back from Mars. Everybody is keeping an eye on that. Recent “Earth-like” images show the Curiosity Rover landed in a Mars crater very similar to the Mojave Desert in California.
Conspirationists surely got a kick out of the Earth-like pictures the Curiosity Rover sent from Mars. Scientists say that the images sent from Mars are incredibly similar to the scenery in Mojave Desert, California. The Curiosity Rover landed in an ancient Martian crater called Gale Crater.
It was the first time since its arrival on Mars that the car-size device took pictures of the scenery on the red planet. Scientists interpreted a black-and-white self portrait of the Curiosity Rover and a panorama featuring mountains and hanging haze to be very Earth-like.
Chief scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology said: “The first impression that you get is how Earth-like this seems looking at that landscape”. So, there you have it: Mars looks pretty much like a desert in California. Sci-fi fans are surely disappointed.
Grotzinger also commented it’s striking for Earth-like Mars is. However, he reckons under the visible Martian landscape, there must be harder material. But, as Grotzinger says, it’s the sort of landscape that “kind of makes you feel at home”.
The chief scientist concluded: “We’re looking at a place that feels really comfortable”. Comfortable might not be the right word to describe the Martian landscape. It would, if we’d take away the constant radiation and the at least apparent complete lack of vegetation and water.
The Curiosity rover navigated 352 million miles away from Earth in eight months. It weights 1 ton and works on nuclear power but it managed to work out quite an impressive landing choreography. It used a heat shield, a parachute, several rockets and some cables, before it finally landed on Mars.
The device is prepared to stay on Mars for the next two years. Its mission is to look for any sign of life, take samples of Mars soil and send back home videos and pictures of its expeditions. The ultimate goal is for Curiosity to reach Mount Sharp, which is estimated to be four miles away from the rover’s current position.
