Even if it is not functioning, it seems like NASA’s Curiosity Rover will work as a pretty good sundial on the barren Martian surface. At least, that is what you can see from two black-and-white video timelapses of a day on Mars.
Just before the Mars solar conjunction, a period when the Sun is between Earth and Mars, the rover received instructions to record videos. The space agency was holding off sending commands to the spacecraft on the red planet for several weeks during the conjunction because the plasma from the Sun can interfere with radio communications.
Usually, Curiosity uses its Hazcams to spot rocks, slopes and other dangerous obstacles. But since most of its other activities were put on pause during the conjunction, the team decided to use the Hazcams to record 12 hours of snapshots for the first time, hoping to learn more about Mars in the process.
While scientists did not see any weather incidents of note in the footage, the pair of 25-frame videos capture the passage of time. The clips go from 5.30 AM to 5.30 PM local time. You can see Curiosity’s silhouette shifting on the ground as it goes from morning to afternoon to night.
The shadow of the rover’s 2-metre robotic arm moves to the left as the sky brightens during sunrise. Curiosity’s front wheels emerge from the darkness on either side of the frame. A circular calibration target mounted on the shoulder of the robotic arm becomes visible on the left.
The second video shows the view of the rear Hazcam as it looks down the slopes of Mount Sharp to the floor of Gale Crater. In it, you can see the rover’s right wheel, along with the shadow of its power system. There is a small black artifact that happens about halfway through the video during the 17th frame. This is from a cosmic ray hitting the camera sensor.
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First uploaded on: 02-01-2024 at 17:53 IST
