NASA’s Curiosity rover has shared its first picture of Earth taken from the surface of Mars.
The photo was taken by the left eye camera of Curiosity’s Mast Camera (Mastcam) about 80 minutes after sunset on the 529th Martian day of the rover’s mission on Mars (Jan. 31, 2014 on Earth). This being 2014, the rover of course tweeted the photo to the world with the accompanying caption: “Look Back in Wonder… My 1st picture of Earth from the surface of Mars.”
The distance between Earth and Mars when Curiosity took the photo was about 99 million miles (160 million kilometers). The image was processed to remove the effects of cosmic rays.
According to NASA, “A human observer with normal vision, if standing on Mars, could easily see Earth and the moon as two distinct, bright ‘evening stars.” This second annotated photo from Curiosity makes Earth’s lunar companion a bit easier to spot.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project’s Curiosity rover. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates the rover’s Mastcam.