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A self-portrait of NASA's Opportunity Mars rover was taken with the rover's Microscopic Imager to celebrate the 5000th Martian Day, or sol, of the rover's mission. This animation from planning software used to write commands for the rover shows the motion of the robotic arm, and an inset view of the Microscopic Imager.

The rover's self-portrait view is made by stitching together multiple images take on Sol 5,000 and 5,006 of the mission. Wrist motions and turret rotations on the arm allowed the Microscopic Imager to acquire the mosaic's component images. The resulting mosaic did not include the rover's arm.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

For more information about Opportunity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/rovers and http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov.