Up above Mars so high: NASA's MRO captures Curiosity scaling the Martian surface! - See pic

Image courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

New Delhi: The near future holds the possibility of a manned probe to Mars and scientists who are preparing for human domination on the Red Planet owe a lot to the numerous already-operational probes that are scaling the Martian surface.

NASA's Curiosity and Opportunity rovers and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have all been highly efficient in providing every bit of information to help scientists prepare for one of the biggest, most awaited missions of all time.

But this time, perched atop the MRO, the most powerful telescope ever sent to Mars has managed to capture something very interesting – a view of the Curiosity 4D droid in action amid Mars' rocky mountainside terrain!

The car-size rover, climbing up lower Mount Sharp toward its next destination, appears as a blue dab against a background of tan rocks and dark sand in the enhanced-color image from the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. The exaggerated color, showing differences in Mars surface materials, makes Curiosity appear bluer than it really looks.

The image was taken on June 5, 2017, two months before the fifth anniversary of Curiosity's landing near Mount Sharp on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6, 2017, EDT and Universal Time).

According to NASA, when the image was taken, Curiosity was partway between its investigation of active sand dunes lower on Mount Sharp, and "Vera Rubin Ridge," a destination uphill where the rover team intends to examine outcrops where hematite has been identified from Mars orbit.