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MSL Still from Overview video with laser

This artists concept of MSL is a still from the MSL Mission Overview video demonstrating the ChemCam instrument.

March 20, 2009

This artists concept of MSL is a still from the MSL Mission Overview video demonstrating the ChemCam instrument.

Credits

NASA/JPL-Caltech

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The rock "Ithaca" shown here, with a rougher lower texture and smoother texture on top, appears to be a piece of the local sedimentary bedrock protruding from the surrounding soil in Gale Crater.
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The rock "Ithaca" shown here, with a rougher lower texture and smoother texture on top, appears to be a piece of the local sedimentary bedrock protruding from the surrounding soil in Gale Crater.
Target Rock 'Ithaca' in Gale Crater, Mars, Unannotated
NASA’s InSight has been busy. After landing on the Red Planet, the mission sent home pictures and sound, then placed its first instrument on the planet's surface. Plus, find out what the Curiosity ...
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NASA’s InSight has been busy. After landing on the Red Planet, the mission sent home pictures and sound, then placed its first instrument on the planet's surface. Plus, find out what the Curiosity rover has been up to.
Mars Report: December 2018
This cropped image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows one set of marks on the surface of Mars where blasts from the descent-stage rocket engines blew away some of the surface material.
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This cropped image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows one set of marks on the surface of Mars where blasts from the descent-stage rocket engines blew away some of the surface material.
Goulburn Scour Mark
This map shows the route on lower Mount Sharp that NASA's Curiosity followed in April and early May 2015, in the context of the surrounding terrain. Numbers along the route identify the sol, or Ma...
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This map shows the route on lower Mount Sharp that NASA's Curiosity followed in April and early May 2015, in the context of the surrounding terrain. Numbers along the route identify the sol, or Martian day, on which it completed the drive reaching that point, as counted since its 2012 landing.
Curiosity's Path to Some Spring 2015 Study Sites
John Grotzinger is standing at the face of a cliff and in discussion with two other team members. The cliff, which is beige and gray in color, has many layers in the rocks. Ken Edgett, wearing a ba...
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John Grotzinger is standing at the face of a cliff and in discussion with two other team members. The cliff, which is beige and gray in color, has many layers in the rocks. Ken Edgett, wearing a baseball hat with a red handkerchief hanging out the back to protect his neck from the sun, is taking close-up pictures of the cliff with a small black camera.
Mars Science Laboratory's Project Scientist Discusses Lakebed Sediments
NASA's Curiosity rover and its rocket-powered descent vehicle pose for a portrait at JPL's Spacecraft Assembly Facility.
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NASA's Curiosity rover and its rocket-powered descent vehicle pose for a portrait at JPL's Spacecraft Assembly Facility.
3D Anaglyph Fish-eye View of NASA's Curiosity Rover and its Rocket-Powered Descent Vehicle
This May 29, 2015, view of a Martian sandstone target called "Big Arm" covers an area about 1.3 inches wide in detail that shows differing shapes and colors of sand grains in the stone. It is from ...
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This view of a sandstone target called "Big Arm" covers an area about 1.3 inches (33 millimeters) wide in detail that shows differing shapes and colors of sand grains in the stone.
Diverse Grains in Mars Sandstone Target 'Big Arm'
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drilled into this rock target, "Cumberland," during the 279th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (May 19, 2013) and collected a powdered sample of material...
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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drilled into this rock target, "Cumberland," during the 279th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (May 19, 2013) and collected a powdered sample of material from the rock's interior.
'Cumberland' Target Drilled by Curiosity
A day after NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drilled the first sample-collection hole into a rock on Mars, the rover's Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument shot laser pulses into the fresh rock pow...
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A day after NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drilled the first sample-collection hole into a rock on Mars, the rover's Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument shot laser pulses into the fresh rock powder that the drilling generated.
Laser Hits on Martian Drill Tailings
This image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows a sample of powdered rock extracted by the rover's drill from the "Confidence Hills" target.
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This image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows a sample of powdered rock extracted by the rover's drill from the "Confidence Hills" target -- the first rock drilled after Curiosity reached the base of Mount Sharp in September 2014.
'Confidence Hills' Drill Powder in Scoop
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture this 360-degree view on July 3, 2021, the 3,167th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The panorama is made up of 129 indivi...
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NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture this 360-degree view on July 3, 2021, the 3,167th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
Curiosity Looks Uphill Past 'Rafael Navarro Mountain'
Clay minerals are composed of layers. Water and cations (positive-charged ions) can be stored between these layers.
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Clay minerals are composed of layers. Water and cations (positive-charged ions) can be stored between these layers.
Clay Mineral Structure Similar to Clays Observed in Mudstone on Mars
This cut-out from a color panorama image taken by NASA's Curiosity rover shows the effects of the descent stage's rocket engines blasting the ground.
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A Set of Blast Marks in Color, Right Side
A Set of Blast Marks in Color, Right Side
This graph shows about one-fourth of a Martian year's pattern atmospheric pressure at the surface of Mars, as measured by the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station on NASA's Curiosity rover.
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This graph shows about one-fourth of a Martian year's pattern atmospheric pressure at the surface of Mars, as measured by the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station on NASA's Curiosity rover.
Seasonal Pressure Curve Peaks at Gale Crater
This animation shows the location of a set of Hazard-Avoidance cameras on the back of NASA's Curiosity rover. Each camera is protected by a clear dust cover, shown here popping off. (No audio)
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Curiosity's Hazard Cameras Ready for Action
Curiosity's Hazard Cameras Ready for Action
NASA's Curiosity rover found evidence for an ancient, flowing stream on Mars at a few sites, including the rock outcrop pictured here, which the science team has named "Hottah" after Hottah Lake in...
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NASA's Curiosity rover found evidence for an ancient, flowing stream on Mars at a few sites, including the rock outcrop pictured here, which the science team has named "Hottah" after Hottah Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories.
Remnants of Ancient Streambed on Mars
The rock "Ithaca" shown here, with a rougher lower texture and smoother texture on top, appears to be a piece of the local sedimentary bedrock protruding from the surrounding soil in Gale Crater.
More
The rock "Ithaca" shown here, with a rougher lower texture and smoother texture on top, appears to be a piece of the local sedimentary bedrock protruding from the surrounding soil in Gale Crater.
Target Rock 'Ithaca' in Gale Crater, Mars
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has driven within robotic-arm's reach of the sandstone slab at the center of this April 23 view from the rover's Mast Camera.
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NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has driven within robotic-arm's reach of the sandstone slab at the center of this April 23 view from the rover's Mast Camera.
Sandstone Target 'Windjana' May Be Next Martian Drilling Site - RAW
This color-enhanced view of NASA's Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as the satellite...
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This color-enhanced view of NASA's Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as the satellite flew overhead.
Curiosity in Exaggerated Color
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has collected its first sample from the base of Mount Sharp.
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Curiosity Rover Report: A Taste of Mount Sharp
Curiosity Rover Report: A Taste of Mount Sharp
Video of the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Nov. 26, 2011, onboard an Atlas V rocket.
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Challenges of Getting to Mars: Launching a Mars Rover
Challenges of Getting to Mars: Launching a Mars Rover
This image produced from software used for planning drives of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity depicts the location and size of the rover when it was driven into position for drilling into rock target "...
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Position of Curiosity for Drilling at 'Cumberland'
Position of Curiosity for Drilling at 'Cumberland' (Annotated)
A New Perspective on Murray Ridge
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A New Perspective on Murray Ridge
A New Perspective on Murray Ridge
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Navigation Camera (Navcam) to capture this scene toward the west just after completing a drive that took the mission's total driving distance on Mars past 10 ki...
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NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Navigation Camera (Navcam) to capture this scene toward the west just after completing a drive that took the mission's total driving distance past 10 kilometers (6.214 miles).
Ten Kilometers and Counting, on Mars
Spacecraft specialists test the descent stage and rover of the Mars Science Laboratory in this scene from the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
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Spacecraft specialists test the descent stage and rover of the Mars Science Laboratory in this scene from the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Testing for Mars Science Laboratory Descent

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