Mars Art: Rarely Seen Gems From Curiosity Rover's Raw Image Collection

Though ultimately a problem for philosophers and machine-learning specialists, we can answer this question using NASA's Curiosity rover with a resounding "Yes." Since landing on the Red Planet a year ago, our silicon-based envoy has been exploring, experimenting, and, for the most part, photographing Mars. It has produced pictures at an incredible rate, often nearly 1,000 per day, and its raw image gallery is currently overflowing with more than 71,000 photos. Curiosity is armed with an impressive array of cameras and the continual snaps it sends back to mission control help scientists and engineers decide where the rover should go next and what rocks to prod. But for the rest of us watching the mission closely, the pictures provide a portal that goes straight to Mars.