--- title: "NASA’s Rover Sends Home Captivating Selfie of Martian Landscape" description: "NSA's Curiosity rover just took a last selfie before leaving the Vera Rubin Ridge on the surface of Mars. Its next stop is a suspected dried-up lake bed." date: "2019-01-29" modified: "2019-01-29" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor.md" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-mars-curiosity-selfie-martian-landscape" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "curiosity" - "mars" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # NASA’s Rover Sends Home Captivating Selfie of Martian Landscape ![NSA's Curiosity rover just took a last selfie before leaving the Vera Rubin Ridge on the surface of Mars. Its next stop is a suspected dried-up lake bed.]() *\Image: NASA/JPL\* ## One Last Selfie NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars in 2012, has been camping out at Vera Rubin Ridge — a wide ridge that overlooks the Red Planet's Gale crater — since September of 2017. But it's finally ready to say goodbye and make its way down to a clay region of Mount Sharp, a massive mountain that towers 18,000 ft (5,500 m) over the crater's floor. To commemorate the moment, Curiosity snapped 57 images that scientists later composited into a [selfie]() — one of Curiosity's [much-beloved moves](). ![]() ## Martian Clay The Vera Rubin Ridge was the place where NASA scientists found the first signs of water-like mineral signatures using the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Curiosity also drilled the floor of the Ridge 19 times to sample the surface. Mount Sharp's "clay-bearing unit," as NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab calls it, is just south of the Vera Rubin Ridge and will become Curiosity's newest lab. The clay could hold important clues about the history of the Gale crater — scientists [suspect it could be a dried up lake](). **READ MORE:** [Curiosity Says Farewell to Mars' Vera Rubin Ridge]() \[JPL\] ***More on NASA's Mars rovers: [NASA's Opportunity Rover Feared Dead]()*** ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() ## More - [NASA Mars Rover Snaps Glorious 1.8 Billion Pixel Panorama]() - [NASA Mars Rover Exploring Spiderweb-Like Patterns on Mars]() - [NASA Rover Finds Ancient Stone Arch on Martian Surface]() - [NASA’s Curiosity Rover Celebrates 10th Anniversary]() - [NASA Rover’s New Selfie Will Make You Feel Like You’re on Mars, and Maybe a Little Drunk]() - [NASA’s Curiosity Captures Astonishingly Detailed Photos Of Mars]() - [Mars Loaded With Mineral Closely Associated With Life, NASA Rover Finds]() - [NASA Mars Rover Following Path of What Appears to Be Ancient River]()