Curiosity Rover Leaves Gediz Vallis Channel (360 View)

Drag your mouse or move your phone to explore this 360-degree panorama provided by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover. This view was captured just before the rover exited Gediz Vallis channel, which likely was formed by ancient floodwaters and landslides.

Visible in this scene is the field of sulfur stones where the rover rolled over a rock and cracked it open, revealing yellow crystals inside and marking the first time scientists have seen pure sulfur on Mars. (The rover has discovered lots of sulfur-based minerals in the past, but not pure sulfur). In the video, a close-up of the sulfur field is embedded roughly where it’s located in the landscape.

Also look for rover tracks, a dusty view of Gale Crater’s rim in the distance, and the route Curiosity is taking away from the channel and onto new adventures.

The rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to take this panorama on Sept. 21 and 22, 2024, the 4,311st and 4,312nd Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s surface mission. It’s made up of 341 individual images that were stitched together. The color has been adjusted to match lighting conditions as the human eye would see them on Earth.

Note on best viewing: Not all browsers support 360-degree videos. YouTube supports playback on computers using Chrome, Firefox, MS Edge, and Opera browsers. For the best experience on a mobile device, play this video in the YouTube app. To improve the resolution, open the video settings (using the gear icon) and select the highest quality available.

For more about Curiosity, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity/.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS