NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover sends a selfie home from Mars

NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover has sent back a dusty cool selfie. NASA released the scene earlier this week. A thin layer of dust is visible on Curiosity, the result of a storm that enveloped Mars this summer. The Curiosity rover, which has a nuclear-powered battery that runs day and night, has been studying Martian soil at Gale Crater. It, however, is expected to remain largely unaffected by the dust.

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The darkish sky indicates dust still clogging the atmosphere. Earlier, when the panorama was shot by Curiosity's mast camera the rover had just drilled for a new rock sample.

NASA's older rover Opportunity, however, relies on solar power and has been silent since June.

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Flight controllers hope as the Martian sky continues to clear, Opportunity will get back in contact. But after almost 15 years exploring the red planet, Opportunity may not have the strength or ability for a comeback. The storm was first detected on May 30, and the US space agency’s 15-year-old rover was last heard from on June 10, when it went into sleep mode as dust blocked out the Sun and darkness enveloped the Red Planet.