The images in this video are all real photographs taken by NASA's Curiosity rover.
In this video we will climb a Martian mountain. So sit back, relax and
imagine what it might be like to set foot on Mars, courtesy of the Curiosity rover.
The places that NASA has explored have all been given names which you will
see on screen in the bottom left corner. Landing in 2012 the mission was only
supposed to last for two years, yet due to the great success of the rover it was
extended indefinitely. At the start of 2020 the Curiosity rover has been
exploring Mars for almost eight years. Pictures are regularly beamed back to
earth for scientists to study. This image shows the effects of roaming Mars for
eight years. Covered in Martian dust, but still determined to carry on.
After a risky flight, Curiosity safely lands in the Gale Crater, an ancient impact site
thought to have been filled with water and sediment in the past. Over time the
strong winds have carved away the sediment and left a three mile high
mountain known as Mount sharp. NASA now has a big challenge to find a way to get
Curiosity up the mountain. Using data from orbiting spacecraft and combining
it with pictures from curiosity the team puts together a 3D map of the terrain.
Each path up Mount sharp is risky, but scientists finally agree on a route.
This path will take curiosity past some sites of interest on its way up.
First stop: Yellowknife Bay
The area here looks to be made up of sedimentary deposits. The science team
concludes that this crater was once home to a large amount of water.
This is curiosity's first major finding.
Curiosity now turns its focus towards Mount sharp, beginning its two-year long
journey towards the Pahrump Hills at the mountains base. Passing a site named the
'Kimberley Formation', Curiosity stops to take some pictures. Again, the sediments
found here confirm the crater was once a watery place.
Curiosity also passed a site named 'Garden City', an outcrop with
huge mineral veins winding across the surface.
Curiosity studied these veins, sending valuable data back to earth
for geologists to scrutinize.
Curiosity stops to take a picture of the Martian sunset
which is actually blue on Mars unlike the red sunsets we see here on earth
Scientists believe this is due to the fine particles in Mars' atmosphere which
permit more blue light than here on Earth. This image, of what is known as
'whale rock' shows an example of cross-bedding that results from water
passing over a loose bed of sediment
As curiosity says goodbye to the 'Pahrump Hills' it heads towards one of the most
interesting regions so far: the 'Bagnold dunes'.
This dune named 'Namib dune' stands
at about 13 feet. The Bagnold dunes were the first dunes ever to be examined up
close on another world. NASA took great care when crossing the dunes as to avoid
the fate of another previous rover 'Spirit', which became trapped in a sand
dune during its journey. The chosen path up Mount sharp will take curiosity out
of the Bagnold dunes crossing through the 'Naukluft Plateau' into a territory
called 'Murray Buttes' before traversing back into the Bagnold
dunes. 'Naukluft Plateau', the entrance to Murray buttes is marked by two tall
sediment structures, which curiosity will have to pass through. This image was also
taken on the fourth anniversary of curiosity's landing or its fourth
birthday. The team at NASA had curiosity sing happy birthday to itself.
Curiosity studied these structures up close while passing. This one, named the 'Stimson Formation'
is an ancient remnant of eroded sandstone that originated when
winds deposited sands, after lower Mount sharp had formed. This layering within
the sandstone is called cross-bedding and indicates that the sandstone was
deposited by wind as sand dunes migrated.
As curiosity waves goodbye to 'Murray Buttes' and continues the long journey up
Mount Sharp, it comes across an interesting Hill named
'Ireson Hill'. Standing at about 16 feet, this alien-looking hill provides a great
view from Mars. Crossing over more sand dunes curiosity comes across a region
known as 'Ogunquit Beach'. The large crests present on the dunes combined
with the smaller ripples are not seen anywhere on earth making these dunes the
strangest ever studied
The determined Rover now heads towards its highest point yet, a ridge known as
'Vera Rubin Ridge'. The repeated beds on the rocks indicate progressive
accumulation of sediments that now make up the lower part of Mount Sharp.
Although from this distance it is not possible to know if they were formed by
aqueous or windblown processes. Curiosity will have to get closer. As curiosity
climbs Vera Rubin Ridge scientists determined that the structures here were
formed due to wind erosion and by being more resistant to the erosion than the
rocks surrounding the ridge, some strange formations have been created.
As Curiosity reaches the top of the ridge the view is incredible.
It shows the rover's journey so far from where we started in the gale crater.
In the distance is the northern rim of the Gale Crater with Mount sharp standing at
five kilometres high behind Curiosity.
In June 2018 however, a global scale dust storm hits Mars and damages Curiosity's
fellow rover 'Opportunity', which is exploring a different region of Mars far
far away. This image shows the difference in the sky over just three days from
Curiosity's perspective in one of the least affected regions of the dust storm
As the storm subsides, curiosity turns to look uphill at Mount sharp and spots a
region of clay which could give more clues about how water helped to shape
this area. Curiosity takes a selfie at a site known as Glen Etive, this is done
using the camera on the rover's robotic arm, 57 individual images are then
stitched together and the arm is digitally removed from the final image
providing a perfect view of Curiosity. As Curiosity traverses the clay bearing
unit it comes across a site named 'Teal Ridge'. The samples that Curiosity took in
the clay bearing unit have proved to contain the most amount of clay ever
found on Mars which signals a strong presence of water in the ancient past.
At the time of making this video curiosity is still climbing Mount sharp
now heading towards an area known as 'Western Butte'. Curiosity's journey is
still ongoing as of 2020 but it's not the only story of exploration on Mars.
Curiosity's older sibling Opportunity stopped contacting NASA in 2018 after
sending one last spooky message. The last message NASA received from Opportunity
was: 'My battery is low and it's getting dark'.
Click here to find out what
happened to opportunity on Mars and if we can still save the rover. Thanks for
watching ElderFox. Remember to subscribe and hit the bell to keep up to date with
Curiosity's journey.