NASA Releases Adorable 'Little Planet' Selfie of Mars Rover

NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS // Little Planet: Andrew Bodrov

In the three years since Curiosity landed on Mars, NASA has released a lot of excellent selfies of the rover—but this one might be the best of all.

On day 1065 of its mission, Curiosity used its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to snap a panorama from Mount Sharp. Photographer Andrew Bodrov digitally stitched 92 images together to create this adorable “little planet” selfie. (The arm used to snap the photo isn’t in the image, but you can see its shadow.)

Curiosity is positioned over a target known as Buckskin in an area on Mount Sharp called Marias Pass, where, according to NASA, the rover “detected unusually high levels of silica and hydrogen.” The rover had bored into the rock with its sample-collecting drill just days before its three-year landing anniversary, and the powder sample was taken into the rover’s on-board laboratory for analysis.