NASA releases six-year timelapse of Curiosity rover on Mars
NASA released a two-minute timelapse video on May 1 that compresses six years of the Curiosity rover's journey across Mars. The footage draws from images captured by the rover's right navigation camera between January 2, 2020, and March 8, 2026, spanning Martian sols 2,633 to 4,830. Originally taken to scan backward for rock samples, these images now track sand grain movement on the rover's deck. Scientists use this data to study seasonal atmospheric changes on the planet.
The timelapse forms part of a larger release featuring panoramic images from both Curiosity and Perseverance, NASA's active Mars rovers operating 3,775 kilometers apart. Curiosity's 360-degree panorama, built from 1,031 images taken between November 9 and December 7, 2025, reveals a region dotted with network-like formations. These low ridges formed from ancient underground water flowing through rock fractures. At 1.5 billion pixels, it ranks among the rover's largest panoramas ever produced.
Perseverance's panorama, assembled from 980 images captured from December 18, 2025, to January 25, 2026, depicts "Lake of Charms" beyond Jezero Crater's rim. This area holds some of the solar system's oldest rocks. The rovers move through Mars' geological timeline in opposite directions. Curiosity, nearing 15 years on the planet, ascends Mount Sharp in Gale Crater toward younger terrains. Perseverance, in its fifth year, probes ancient landscapes outside Jezero.
Recent findings from both missions advance Mars science. Curiosity's team identified the most diverse organic molecules on the planet in a rock drilled in 2020: 21 carbon-based compounds, including seven found nowhere else on Mars. Perseverance recorded the first electric sparks in dust devils and captured visible auroras from another world's surface. Curiosity now explores sulfate-rich mountain layers after leaving the "boxworks" zone. Perseverance heads to "Singing Canyon," home to exceptionally ancient terrain.
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