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NASA and Mars and selfies go together like Matt Damon and Mars and potatoes.
The latest selfie related to the agency's red planet comes from the spacecraft Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (Maven) in honor of its fourth anniversary in orbit on Mars.
This composite image shows Maven from NASA orbiting Mars.
University of Colorado / NASA
Maven is on a mission to study Mars' upper atmosphere and its influence on the planet's climate and potential habitability.
The unusual selfie comes from the IUVS (Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph) instrument of the spacecraft, which usually looks at the atmosphere of the planet. He is mounted on an arrow arm that NASA says can act as a selfie stick. The picture shows "the ultraviolet wavelengths of sunlight reflected by the components of the spacecraft".
NASA had to assemble 21 different images to create the final image, which marks the arrival of the spacecraft on Mars in orbit on September 21, 2014. The space agency also drew a few lines to show how the visible parts of Maven connect.
Maven spent a hectic time on Mars, helping scientists understand how solar storms interact with the atmosphere and facilitate the discovery of new types of Martian aurora.
The Maven selfie joins a fun self-portrait of Mars normally comes from rovers down on the surface of the planet.
Maven's moment of glory is all the more impressive as it is difficult to take a selfie with a camera designed to study the atmosphere of the red planet while turning into orbit.
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