Behold Kevin Gill’s mosaic image of NASA’s Mars rover, which is just as good as the official selfies of Curiosity. The Nashua, NH, software engineer stitched together dozens of high-resolution photos taken by the MAHLI (Mars Hand Lens Imager) camera of the rover, and the result is a stunning self portrait of the car-sized robotic explorer.
NASA has released a few MAHLI-style Curiosity selfies, taken at the so called Mojave-site, at Rocknest at the Gale Crater, at John Klein drilling site, and at Windjana Drilling Site. The first selfie was taken just a few days after the landing by the rover’s navigation cameras. All these images show the rover from a viewpoint above, and that’s why this new self portrait looks so special, showing all six legs and the belly of the towering rover.
Here is the full image:
[NASA/CalTech-JPL/MSSS, Mosaic by Kevin M. Gill]