NASA’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured this incredible image of the Curiosity Rover from space on May 31, 2019, which appears as a bluish speck. Curiosity was examining a location called “Woodland Bay” in an area referred to as the “clay-bearing unit” on the side of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall mountain inside of Gale Crater. When it was photographed, the rover was facing 65° counterclockwise from north, placing the mast in the right location to produce this bright spot in the upper-left corner. Read more for another video and additional information.
These mirror-like reflections off smooth surfaces show up as especially bright spots in HiRISE images, but for the camera to spot these reflections on the rover, the Sun and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter need to be in the perfect locations. The enhanced-color image of Curiosity that you see above shows three or four bright spots that are likely such reflections.
