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Nasa releases stunning 360-degree view of Mars taken by Curiosity rover
Nasa have released a stunning 360-degree panorama acquired by the Mastcam on the space agency's Curiosity Mars rover on April 4, 2016.
The panorama has been recorded as part of long-term campaign to document the context and details of the geology and landforms along Curiosity's traverse since landing in August 2012.
The view combines dozens of images taken from the top of a mountain plateau known as "Naukluft" inside Mars' Gale Crater.
Curiosity has been rolling across Mars on a mission to document the planet since its landing in 2012.
Nasa have adjusted the white balance of the images to show what the landscape would look like under daytime lighting conditions on Earth.
Since landing, the rover traversed through terrains dominated by water-lain sedimentary rocks, some of which have contained minerals like clays that attest to the ancient presence of water.
However, the rover crossed into very different geology while climbing onto the Naukluft Plateau. The sandstone here appears to be dominated by thick layers of windblown sand, suggesting that these deposits formed in a drier epoch.
Curiosity reached the base of Mount Sharp in 2014 after fruitfully investigating outcrops closer to its landing site and then trekking to the layered mountain.