Watch: NASA's 'Curiosity Mars Rover' Camera Captures Panoramic Views From Rugged Plateau on Mars

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has travelled over some of the most rugged and nearly non-navigable terrain during its 44 months spent on the red planet, after landing in the Gale Crater. The space agency has recently released a video of panoramic scenes captured by the rover's Mastcam from the highest viewpoints on the Naukluft Plateau.

Initially, the roughness of the plateau's terrain had raised questions about driving on it as the journey could prove to be destructive for the rover's wheels. Previously, tears and holes were noticed on the vehicle's aluminum wheels in 2013. However, the NASA team monitoring the rover adjusted the long term travel route after conducting a series of earth based testing that gave an insight into wheel longevity. "We carefully inspect and trend the condition of the wheels," said Steve Lee from NASA. "Cracks and punctures have been gradually accumulating at the pace we anticipated, based on testing we performed at JPL. Given our longevity projections, I am confident these wheels will get us to the destinations on Mount Sharp that have been in our plans since before landing," he added.

Once the rover had crossed most of the Naukluft Plateau, a close inspection of its wheels indicated that the journey had not accelerated wheel damage in spite of the navigation challenges faced on the terrain. After reaching atop the plateau, the rover's camera recorded panoramic scenes that show the rim of Gale Crater in the distance, with Mount Sharp standing in the middle of the crater. The footage also gives a glimpse of wind sculpted textures in the sandstone bedrock near the rover.  

The next phase of the rover's journey will see it examining three geological units on lower Mount Sharp, which were selected as key destinations right from the beginning of the mission, when the Curiosity Mars rover's landing site was selected. One of the sites contains hematite and the point above it has an area rich in clay minerals, followed by a series of layers containing sulfates. Researchers want to examine these areas closely to get a better insight into ancient environmental conditions and how long they remained ideal for microbial life, if it did indeed flourish on Mars, before the state of the planet became drier and less favorable.