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MSL Still from Overview video front view

This artists concept of MSL is a still from the MSL Mission Overview video. It shows MSL on the surface of Mars.

March 26, 2009

This artists concept of MSL is a still from the MSL Mission Overview video. It shows MSL on the surface of Mars.

Credits

NASA/JPL-Caltech

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NASA Goddard Instrument Makes First Detection of Organic Matter on Mars
NASA Goddard Instrument Makes First Detection of Organic Matter on Mars
Scientist Jennifer Eigenbrode used a soil simulant — material that closely resembles material found on the martian surface — to test the effectiveness of a sample-preparation method that was added ...
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Image of Jennifer Eigenbrode using a soil simulant
Scientist Jennifer Eigenbrode using a soil simulant for testing
This map shows the route driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity through the 56th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (Oct. 2, 2012).
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This map shows the route driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity through the 56th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (Oct. 2, 2012).
Curiosity's Travels Through Sol 56
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity extended its robotic arm on Aug. 20, 2012, for the first time on Mars and used its Navigation Camera (Navcam) to capture this view of the extended arm.
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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity extended its robotic arm on Aug. 20, 2012, for the first time on Mars and used its Navigation Camera (Navcam) to capture this view of the extended arm.
Curiosity Extends Arm for First Time on Mars
This diagram shows the location of each of the Curiosity Rover's ten science instruments.
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This diagram shows the location of each of the Curiosity Rover's ten science instruments.
Diagram of Curiosity Rover Instruments
Pictured here are some of the women working on the Curiosity rover. The picture was taken in the working "garage" where Curiosity's ground test rover is housed in the "Mars Yard," a simulated mart...
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Pictured here are some of the women working on the Curiosity rover. The picture was taken in the working "garage" where Curiosity's ground test rover is housed in the "Mars Yard," a simulated martian landscape right at JPL.
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This close-up image of a dust storm on Mars was acquired by the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Nov. 7, 2007.
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This close-up image of a dust storm on Mars was acquired by the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Nov. 7, 2007.
Martian Dust Storm
On Sol 32 (Sept. 7, 2012) the Curiosity rover used the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) located on its arm to obtain this self-portrait.
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On Sol 32 (Sept. 7, 2012) the Curiosity rover used the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) located on its arm to obtain this self-portrait.
Rover Takes Self Portrait
This chart illustrates how NASA's Curiosity rover talks to Earth. While the rover can send direct messages, it communicates more efficiently with the help of spacecraft in orbit, including NASA's O...
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This chart illustrates how NASA's Curiosity rover talks to Earth. While the rover can send direct messages, it communicates more efficiently with the help of spacecraft in orbit, including NASA's Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the European Space Agency's Mars Express. NASA's Deep Space Network of antennae across the globe receive the transmissions, and send them to the Mars Science Laboratory mission operations center at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Curiosity Speaks and Orbiters Listen
This false-color engineering drawing shows the Collection and Handling for In-Situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA) device, attached to the turret at the end of the robotic arm on NASA's Curiosity Ma...
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This false-color engineering drawing shows the Collection and Handling for In-Situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA) device, attached to the turret at the end of the robotic arm on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.
CHIMRA: Scoops, Sieves and Delivers Samples
This mosaic of images from the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the terrain surrounding the rover's position on the 524th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Jan. 26...
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This mosaic of images from the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the terrain surrounding the rover's position on the 524th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Jan. 26, 2014). The images were taken right after Curiosity completed a drive of about 79 feet (24 meters).
Full-Circle Vista During Curiosity's Approach to 'Dingo Gap'
The Mars Hand Lens Imager on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover provided this nighttime view of a hole produced by the rover's drill and, inside the hole, a line of scars produced by the rover's rock-zapp...
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The Mars Hand Lens Imager on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover provided this nighttime view of a hole produced by the rover's drill and, inside the hole, a line of scars produced by the rover's rock-zapping laser. The camera used its own white-light LEDs to illuminate the scene on May 13, 2014.
Nighttime Image of Laser Sharpshooting on Mars
This animation depicts the location of the ChemCam instrument at the top of the mast on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity and the field of view of the instrument's camera, called the Remote Micro-Imager....
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ChemCam Field of View
ChemCam Field of View
The Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this view of "Vera Rubin Ridge" about two weeks before the rover starting to ascend this steep ridge on lower Mount Sharp.
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The Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this view of "Vera Rubin Ridge" about two weeks before the rover starting to ascend this steep ridge on lower Mount Sharp.
Looking Up at Layers of 'Vera Rubin Ridge' on Sol 1790 - Figure 1
The Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity was used to check the composition of gray tailings from the hole in rock target "Cumberland" that the rover drilled on M...
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Drilled Hole and ChemCam Marks at 'Cumberland'
Drilled Hole and ChemCam Marks at 'Cumberland'
These images from the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover indicate similarly dark material, but with very different chemistries, in mineral veins at "Garden City."
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These images from the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover indicate similarly dark material, but with very different chemistries, in mineral veins at "Garden City."
Thick, Dark Veins at 'Garden City,' Mars
The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera will fly on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, launching in late 2011.
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The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera will fly on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, launching in late 2011.
Color Camera for Curiosity's Robotic Arm
Testing of Mars Landing Radar near Lancaster, Calif.
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Testing of Mars Landing Radar near Lancaster, Calif.
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NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover took this 360-degree panorama at a drill site nicknamed “Avanavero” on June 20, 2022, the 3,509th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. In its decade on the Red Planet, t...
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Panorama is made up of 127 individual images taken on June 20, 2022 by NASA'S Curiosity Mars rover.
Curiosity's 360-Degree Panorama of 'Avanavero' Drill Site
This image is from a test series used to characterize the 100-millimeter Mast Camera on NASA's Curiosity rover. It was taken on Aug. 23, 2012, and looks south-southwest from the rover's landing site.
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This image is from a test series used to characterize the 100-millimeter Mast Camera on NASA's Curiosity rover. It was taken on Aug. 23, 2012, and looks south-southwest from the rover's landing site.
Focusing the 100-millimeter Mastcam
The network of cracks in this Martian rock slab called "Old Soaker" may have formed from the drying of a mud layer more than 3 billion years ago. The view spans about 3 feet (90 centimeters) left-t...
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The network of cracks in this Martian rock slab called "Old Soaker" may have formed from the drying of a mud layer more than 3 billion years ago. The view spans about 3 feet (90 centimeters) left-to-right and combines three images taken by the MAHLI camera on the arm of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.
Possible Mud Cracks Preserved in Martian Rock
This self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle on Vera Rubin Ridge, which it's been investigating for the past several months.
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rover on mars surface with mountain in background
Mount Sharp Photobombs Curiosity
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover took this close-up view of a rock nicknamed “Terra Firme” that looks like the open pages of a book on April 15, 2023, the 3,800th Martian day, or sol, of the mission usi...
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This image was taken by Curiosity on Sol 3800 and shows a close-up view of a rock nicknamed "Terra Firme" that looks like the open pages of a book.
Curiosity Finds a Book-Like Rock
The "Bonanza King" rock on Mars, pictured here, was tapped by the drill belonging to NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.
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This image of Bonanza King rock, which is brown and has a lighter-blueish area in the middle where the Curiosity tapped the rock.
Loose Rock Leads to Incomplete Drilling
Engineers put the rover through thousands of hours of testing. They did drop tests; pull tests; drive tests; load tests, and many other tests to get Curiosity ready for launch.
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