NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 3, 2026 features a selfie taken by the Curiosity rover on sol 1943 of its exploration of Mars, at the south rim of Vera Rubin Ridge. The agency notes that a sol is a Martian solar day, about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day, and that sol 1943 corresponds to Earth date January 23, 2018.

The mosaicked panorama, also composed as an interactive 360-degree VR view, combines 61 exposures taken by the car-sized rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager. Frames containing the imager's arm were edited out, and the extended background was taken by the rover's Mastcam on sol 1903. At the top of the mast, the laser-firing ChemCam housing blocks the distant, 5 kilometer high peak of Mount Sharp.

According to the entry, Curiosity marked a total elevation gain of 1 kilometer on Earth date August 26, 2026, during its trek from the floor of Gale Crater up the slope of Mount Sharp. The image is credited to NASA, JPL-Caltech and MSSS, with the panorama by Andrew Bodrov.