Patriot Update

A long-lived NASA rover on Mars has beamed home a stunning panoramic view of the Red Planet, a spectacular panorama that a space agency description billed as the “next best thing to being there.”

The new Martian panorama was snapped by NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity, a six-wheeled robot that has spent more than eight years exploring the Red Planet. The image shows a full-circle view of Mars near a spot called “Greeley Haven,” where Opportunity hunkered down during its last Martian winter.