Watch: One Year on Mars

YouTube / JPLnews
YouTube / JPLnews | YouTube / JPLnews

The Curiosity rover has been on Mars for a full year (actually, a year and three days now). To celebrate the occasion, JPL released this video showing the view from the rover's front Hazard-Avoidance Camera. While the Hazard-Avoidance Cam doesn't catch that much in terms of amazing images, it's oddly fascinating to watch a literal rover's-eye view of the scene on Mars as the rover scrapes, probes, and drills. Got two minutes? Take a look:

My favorite part is watching the shadows move (this is effectively time lapse) and the sudden sunsets. Also, there sure is a lot of rock just lying around on the surface -- I'd love to send some people there with picks to dig in.

For a human perspective on what the rover did during this time (in other words, all the non-hazard-avoiding driving not shown above), check out this narrated video from July: