Mind-blowing when you really think it through

NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover, April 15, 2018

This photo is a bit old now.  It’s from the Mars Curiosity rover, in 2018.  I only came across it the other day (or, to be precise, re-discovered it). 

I thought I’d share, even though it’s a pretty ordinary looking photo.  The average teenager with a cellphone could frame a better shot of a sunset.

You have to let it sink in a bit to really understand how awesome this photo is.  Why?  Because:

•  It was taken by a robot.
•  It is a photo of the sun setting on a different planet.

That’s why the sunset looks blue instead of red, like it does here.  The sun is smaller, cooler, and the atmosphere on Mars brings out the blue spectrum at this time of day.

The technology just to get the robot there in the first place, and return the digital files of photos, in the second, is truly amazing.