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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Watching the shift of the Sun, Curiosity sol 397

Watching the shift of the Sun, Curiosity sol 397
Watching the shift of the Sun, Curiosity sol 397 While working on "restricted sols," Mars rovers must perform observations that are targeted "blind," without knowing what exactly is in the field of view. This Curiosity observation from a restricted sol (397 or September 17, 2013) had the rover looking at a patch of ground five times over the course of a day to watch how its photometric properties changed under different lighting conditions. Images were taken at 11:01, 12:31, 14:02, 15:35, and 16:40 local solar time. NASA / JP / MSSS / Emily Lakdawalla