After the installation of a major software update that enabled NASA's Curiosity Mars rover to drive faster and also reduced wear and tear on its wheels, the robot took stunning captures of the “Marker Band Valley” before leaving it behind.

The postcard, showcasing the picturesque landscape from the red planet, is an artistic representation of what Mars looks like at different times of the day.

In a news release, NASA said that the panoramas captured by the robot were taken with black-and-white navigation cameras on April 8, 2023.

The colours were further added to the black-and-white panoramas with blue being added to the parts of the postcard clicked in the morning and yellow to the ones clicked in the afternoon.

Further giving details of the postcard, NASA said that it shows several landmarks of Mars including "Marker Band Valley," where the rover discovered unexpected signs of an ancient lake and also two hills named "Bolivar" and "Deepdale".

<img alt="Figure A is an annotated version of the postcard noting geographic features and elements of the rover." src="https://mars.nasa.gov/internal_resources/1627" />

“Anyone who’s been to a national park knows the scene looks different in the morning than it does in the afternoon,” said Curiosity engineer Doug Ellison of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, who planned and processed the images. “Capturing two times of the day provides dark shadows because the lighting is coming in from the left and the right, like you might have on a stage – but instead of stage lights, we’re relying on the Sun.”

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/astronomers-share-of-photo-new-supernova-shining-brightly-in-pinwheel-galaxy-603496">Astronomers share photo of new supernova shining brightly in Pinwheel Galaxy</a>

NASA further noted that the rover took the photos during winter time and that the shadows during that time of the year are deeper and darker as the dust levels in the Martian atmosphere are at their lowest.&nbsp;

"Mars' shadows get sharper and deeper when there's low dust and softer when there's lots of dust," Ellison said.

<h2>New images of Mars raise questions over its redness</h2>

A new image of Mars is raising questions over its redness, and it looks like Mars isn't as red as we might have thought.&nbsp;

The new mosaic of Mars has been released to mark 20 years since the launch of the European Space Agency (ESA)'s Mars Express, which is a spacecraft that has been orbiting the planet for two decades.&nbsp;

Mars Express's High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC)'s data was used to create the mosaic. The image reveals the planet's colour and composition in spectacular detail... not so red.&nbsp;

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Say cheese! 📸 Over the past 20 years, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarsExpress?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarsExpress</a> has orbited Mars 24,510 times, during which our <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HRSC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HRSC</a> has acquired 6916 images. 😲 We couldn’t quite fit all of them into this video, but you can find the best ones on our Flickr gallery: <a href="https://t.co/ey8vXRxlmM">https://t.co/ey8vXRxlmM</a> <a href="https://t.co/rFzxzqOUrT">pic.twitter.com/rFzxzqOUrT</a>
— DLR - English (@DLR_en) <a href="https://twitter.com/DLR_en/status/1664624837841518592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

On its website, ESA said that Mars appears in the night sky different from all the other gleaming dots in the darkness. Notably, the changing atmosphere of Mars has made it difficult to see all the colours on the planet from space in the past.&nbsp;

In a post, ESA said that the "dust scatters and reflects light, causing colours to shift between images". The space agency said that when the mismatched pieces are put together, the result is usually patchy looking.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

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After the installation of a major software update that enabled NASA's Curiosity Mars rover to drive faster and also reduced wear and tear on its wheels, the robot took stunning captures of the “Marker Band Valley” before leaving it behind.

After the installation of a major software update that enabled NASA's Curiosity Mars rover to drive faster and also reduced wear and tear on its wheels, the robot took stunning captures of the “Marker Band Valley” before leaving it behind. The postcard, showcasing the picturesque landscape from the red planet, is an artistic representation of what Mars looks like at different times of the day. In a news release, NASA said that the panoramas captured by the robot were taken with black-and-white navigation cameras on April 8, 2023. The colours were further added to the black-and-white panoramas with blue being added to the parts of the postcard clicked in the morning and yellow to the ones clicked in the afternoon. Further giving details of the postcard, NASA said that it shows several landmarks of Mars including "Marker Band Valley," where the rover discovered unexpected signs of an ancient lake and also two hills named "Bolivar" and "Deepdale". “Anyone who’s been to a national park knows the scene looks different in the morning than it does in the afternoon,” said Curiosity engineer Doug Ellison of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, who planned and processed the images. “Capturing two times of the day provides dark shadows because the lighting is coming in from the left and the right, like you might have on a stage – but instead of stage lights, we’re relying on the Sun.” Also read: Astronomers share photo of new supernova shining brightly in Pinwheel Galaxy NASA further noted that the rover took the photos during winter time and that the shadows during that time of the year are deeper and darker as the dust levels in the Martian atmosphere are at their lowest. "Mars' shadows get sharper and deeper when there's low dust and softer when there's lots of dust," Ellison said. New images of Mars raise questions over its redness A new image of Mars is raising questions over its redness, and it looks like Mars isn't as red as we might have thought. The new mosaic of Mars has been released to mark 20 years since the launch of the European Space Agency (ESA)'s Mars Express, which is a spacecraft that has been orbiting the planet for two decades. Mars Express's High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC)'s data was used to create the mosaic. The image reveals the planet's colour and composition in spectacular detail... not so red. Say cheese! 📸 Over the past 20 years, #MarsExpress has orbited Mars 24,510 times, during which our #HRSC has acquired 6916 images. 😲 We couldn’t quite fit all of them into this video, but you can find the best ones on our Flickr gallery: https://t.co/ey8vXRxlmM pic.twitter.com/rFzxzqOUrT — DLR - English (@DLR_en) June 2, 2023 × On its website, ESA said that Mars appears in the night sky different from all the other gleaming dots in the darkness. Notably, the changing atmosphere of Mars has made it difficult to see all the colours on the planet from space in the past. In a post, ESA said that the "dust scatters and reflects light, causing colours to shift between images". The space agency said that when the mismatched pieces are put together, the result is usually patchy looking. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover sends beautiful postcard from red planet showing different times of day

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said that&nbsp;unusually soft and&nbsp;powdery&nbsp;rock is responsible for last week’s sampling fiasco on Mars.

The space agency's Mars rover Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology lab ever sent to another world,&nbsp;drilled to the proper depth of nearly 3 inches (8 centimetres), and pictures of the borehole looked good.

However, it came up empty after attempting to collect its first core sample on the red planet for eventual return to Earth.

NASA's&nbsp;engineers have concluded that the rock was not strong enough to produce a core sample, and the small, powdery fragments remained in the hole or ended up in the cuttings pile,&nbsp;or both.

Therefore, the rover is moving on to the next sampling site in its quest for signs of ancient Martian life; it should arrive there by early next month.

Scientists hope to find biosignatures embedded in samples of ancient sediments that Perseverance is designed to extract from Martian rock for future analysis back on Earth,&nbsp;the first such specimens ever collected by humankind from another planet.

Two subsequent Mars missions are planned to retrieve the samples and return them to NASA in the next decade, in collaboration with the European Space Agency.

Search for ancient life

NASA scientists have described Perseverance as the most ambitious of nearly 20 US&nbsp;missions to Mars dating back to the Mariner spacecraft’s 1965 fly-by.

Larger and packed with more instruments than the four Mars rovers preceding it, Perseverance is set to build on previous findings that liquid water once flowed on the Martian surface and that carbon and other minerals altered by water and considered precursors to the evolution of life were present.

Perseverance’s payload also includes demonstration projects that could help pave the way for eventual human exploration of Mars, including a device to convert the carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere into pure oxygen.

The box-shaped tool, the first built to extract a natural resource of direct use to humans from an extraterrestrial environment, could prove invaluable for future human life support on Mars and for producing rocket propellant to fly astronauts home.

Perseverance’s immediate predecessor, the rover Curiosity, landed in 2012 and remains in operation, as does the stationary lander InSight, which arrived in 2018 to study the deep interior of Mars.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said that unusually soft and powdery rock is responsible for last week’s sampling fiasco on Mars. The space agency's Mars rover Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology lab ever sent to another world, drilled to the proper depth of nearly 3 inches (8 centimetres), and pictures of the borehole looked good.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said that unusually soft and powdery rock is responsible for last week’s sampling fiasco on Mars. The space agency's Mars rover Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology lab ever sent to another world, drilled to the proper depth of nearly 3 inches (8 centimetres), and pictures of the borehole looked good. However, it came up empty after attempting to collect its first core sample on the red planet for eventual return to Earth. NASA's engineers have concluded that the rock was not strong enough to produce a core sample, and the small, powdery fragments remained in the hole or ended up in the cuttings pile, or both. Therefore, the rover is moving on to the next sampling site in its quest for signs of ancient Martian life; it should arrive there by early next month. Scientists hope to find biosignatures embedded in samples of ancient sediments that Perseverance is designed to extract from Martian rock for future analysis back on Earth, the first such specimens ever collected by humankind from another planet. Two subsequent Mars missions are planned to retrieve the samples and return them to NASA in the next decade, in collaboration with the European Space Agency. Search for ancient life NASA scientists have described Perseverance as the most ambitious of nearly 20 US missions to Mars dating back to the Mariner spacecraft’s 1965 fly-by. Larger and packed with more instruments than the four Mars rovers preceding it, Perseverance is set to build on previous findings that liquid water once flowed on the Martian surface and that carbon and other minerals altered by water and considered precursors to the evolution of life were present. Perseverance’s payload also includes demonstration projects that could help pave the way for eventual human exploration of Mars, including a device to convert the carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere into pure oxygen. The box-shaped tool, the first built to extract a natural resource of direct use to humans from an extraterrestrial environment, could prove invaluable for future human life support on Mars and for producing rocket propellant to fly astronauts home. Perseverance’s immediate predecessor, the rover Curiosity, landed in 2012 and remains in operation, as does the stationary lander InSight, which arrived in 2018 to study the deep interior of Mars.

Unusually soft, powdery rock responsible for sampling fiasco on Mars, says NASA

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NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover sends beautiful postcard from red planet showing different times of day

Unusually soft, powdery rock responsible for sampling fiasco on Mars, says NASA