Curiosity Views Gale Crater's Rim, Homing in on Ancient River Channel

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this panorama under exceptionally clear conditions of Gale Crater's northern rim on Aug. 25, 2025, the 4,640th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Dust in the air is at its lowest during Martian winter, providing Curiosity its best views all the way across the yawning crater floor from the rover's perch in the foothills of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain roughly 22 miles (35 kilometers) from the crater rim. The panorama was stitched together on Earth from 44 images captured by Curiosity's Mastcam instrument. The color in these images has been adjusted to match the lighting conditions as the human eye would see them on Earth. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26671