NASA Releases New Picture Of MARS, It’s So Gorgeous I Want To Weep.

No need for words. Drink in this picture. It’s Mars. That’s the planet Mars. Stunning. Oh, all right. NASA provides some context.

io9:

What you see here is a small portion of a vast panorama — a composite image that combines a total of 817 photographs, taken between Dec. 21, 2011 and May 8, 2012, that features the rover and its surroundings during the most recent Martian winter. Taken together, they provide us with one of the most detailed views of Mars’ ancient Endeavour Crater ever recorded. Click here for the full image in very, very high-resolution.

According to NASA:

This scene recorded from the mast-mounted color camera includes the rover’s own solar arrays and deck in the foreground, providing a sense of sitting on top of the rover and taking in the view. Its release this week coincides with two milestones: Opportunity completing its 3,000th Martian day on July 2, and NASA continuing past 15 years of robotic presence at Mars. Mars Pathfinder landed July 4, 1997. NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor orbiter reached the planet while Pathfinder was still active, and Global Surveyor overlapped the active missions of the Mars Odyssey orbiter and Opportunity, both still in service.

So good.