Three Years into its Mission, Curiosity's Stunning Martian Panorama

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It's been three years since NASA's Curiosity rover, carrying the Mars Science Laboratory, made its bold on the surface of Mars.

Since then the rover across a wealth of varied and fascinating terrain. The southward looking panorama here has been stitched together from images taken back in April 2015 with the rover cameras - on Martian days (or sols) 952 and 953 after landing (a solar day on Mars is 24 hours and 39 minutes).

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

It's a marvelous view: from outcroppings and smooth bedrock, to rounded buttes still in the distance. But to fully appreciate the details and the extraordinary 'presence' of Mars you have to poke around this .

Here are a few closeups, and you can explore the whole image directly .

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

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