NASA Recently Released Devastating Images of Curiosity – The Luckiest Robot in the Search for Extraterrestrial Life.
Curiosity is a lander that operates as a rover on Mars. Beginning its journey in 2012 to search for extraterrestrial life, it has made a series of groundbreaking discoveries, including the first “building blocks of life.”
Now, new images from NASA reveal the “injuries” this resilient warrior has sustained while grappling with the harsh terrain of Mars over the past 12 years.
NASA’s Curiosity Rover, one of the active robots searching for extraterrestrial life on Mars – (Photo: NASA).
Curiosity has taken a self-portrait of its “legs” using a camera mounted on its robotic arm, showing significant cracks and scratches.
However, those concerned can breathe a sigh of relief: Mission Operations Engineer Ashley Stroupe stated that while the damage may be severe, Curiosity “is still operating well, despite enduring some of the harshest impacts from Mars.”
There are no signs that this robot will cease operations.
In fact, Curiosity long ago completed its original two-year mission. However, because it continues to function without failure, NASA has assigned it several extended missions, allowing it to explore unexpected areas and achieve continued success.
Severely damaged wheel of Curiosity – (Photo: NASA).
The latest “injury” of Curiosity adds to a list of incidents that exploratory robots have faced on Mars.
Most recently, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter, a companion to the newer Perseverance rover, faced challenges.
Ingenuity completed its mission after sending a “farewell” message to Earth last April. It encountered complex structures on the Red Planet’s terrain during a reconnaissance flight, resulting in one of its rotor blades breaking and crashing.
Last year, China’s Zhurong rover failed to wake up after a period of silence.
NASA also lost two other famous warriors: the InSight seismology robot and the Opportunity rover, which became inactive after severe dust storms on Mars covered their solar panels.
The two active robots, Curiosity and Perseverance, utilize nuclear power, allowing them to avoid a similar “fate.”
