NASA’s Curiosity Rover Sends Stunning Sunrise-and-Sunset Holiday Postcard from Mars

NASA's Curiosity rover just shared a fun holiday greeting from Mars! The mission team had Curiosity snap some shots at two different times on November 18, 2025. They combined these images—one taken in the morning and another in the late afternoon—giving us a beautiful view that shows a Martian “sunrise” and “sunset” all at once: a morning blue sky and an afternoon yellow hue. This cheerful postcard is a follow-up to similar ones Curiosity took back in 2023 and 2021.

Creating the Holiday Postcard

According to NASA, mission controllers instructed Curiosity to make panoramic photographs at two moments on Sol 4722 at approximately 4:15 pm and Sol 4723 at approximately 8:20 am (local Mars time). The two black-and-white panoramas were then stitched together and colourised (with the morning side blue and afternoon yellow) to bring out the Martian scenery. The last image is called an artistic interpretation by NASA and is aimed at highlighting various details.

Curiosity's Legacy and Public Outreach

Curiosity landed in 2012 and has since covered a distance of more than 25km around the Gale Crater and has sampled 42 rocks. NASA observes that the rover has also provided scientists with lessons on the history of Mars and how it might have had life. This is a colourful panorama that showcases the legacy of the rover and the NASA history of publishing impressive Mars images. In 2023 and 2021, Curiosity created similar postcards with science and celebration in each image.