NASA's Curiosity Rover Takes a Selfie on Mars

NASA‘s Curiosity rover has mastered the art of the selfie.

On Sunday, August 22, the Mars-residing rover captured a “plandid” (or planned, but candid) selfie using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), before sharing the image on Twitter the following day. Though some editing was needed, considering the original picture displayed Curiosity’s “head” upside-down at a slight angle, the final photo mimicks the nature of a typical human plandid.

“I heard ‘plandids’ are all the rage back on Earth. Did I get it right?” the official Curiosity rover Twitter account wrote on Monday. “I took this image using my Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), which is on the turret at the end of my arm. All LEDs were off, so the Sun is my only source of illumination.”

I hear “plandids” are all the rage back on Earth. Did I get it right?🤳

I took this image using my Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) which is on the turret at the end of my arm. All LEDs were off, so the Sun is my only source of illumination. https://t.co/U4CvjVv4R5 pic.twitter.com/w2jo5vpgey

— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 23, 2021

Earlier this month, the rover celebrated nine years on Mars. In that time, Curiosity has traveled a total of 16.3 miles, climbed 1,509 feet in elevation and collected 32 drilled samples. Now, Curiosity is climbing Mount Sharp’s steep slope in Mars’ Gale Crater in its ongoing search for evidence that the area could be habitable for microbial life.

In other space news, NASA has halted work on its $2.9 billion USD deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX following Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin lawsuit.