1 / 18
pyramid-rock
Can robots make art?
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. Both NASA engineers and amateur image processing geeks have sewn together many of these individual photos into amazing mosaics and panoramas, further allowing us to immerse ourselves in the Martian landscape.
We scoured the rover's raw image collection for some of the best examples of Martian art made by a robot. They show lovely formations, spectacular vistas, and often random bits that the engineers probably didn't intend to capture. Most are beautiful only by accident. But that doesn't take away from their value. Because in the end, it's we who provide the Curiosity mission with its meaning and its splendor.
Above:
