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Curiosity Heads to Mars

November 28, 2011

The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft separates from the upper stage of its Atlas V launch vehicle and heads on its way to Mars.

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Images taken before and after NASA's Curiosity rover shot its laser 50 times are shown here.
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Images taken before and after NASA's Curiosity rover shot its laser 50 times are shown here.
After the Laser Shots
A wheel track cuts through a windblown ripple of dusty sand in this Nov. 7, 2014, image from the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity rover. The view spans about four feet across. This experiment was planne...
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A wheel track cuts through a windblown ripple of dusty sand in this Nov. 7, 2014, image from the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity rover. The view spans about four feet across. This experiment was planned for yielding a view of the inside of the ripple for assessment of particle sizes and composition.
Ripple's Interior Exposed by Rover Wheel Track
This image shows a close-up of track marks left by NASA's Curiosity rover.
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This image shows a close-up of track marks left by NASA's Curiosity rover.
Curiosity Tracks Its Tracks
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
This image from the Navigation Camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows wheel tracks printed by the rover as it drove on the sandy floor of a lowland called "Hidden Valley" on the route toward M...
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This image from the Navigation Camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows wheel tracks printed by the rover as it drove on the sandy floor of a lowland called "Hidden Valley" on the route toward Mount Sharp.
Curiosity Tracks in 'Hidden Valley' on Mars
This movie clip shows the larger of Mars' two moons, Phobos, passing in front of the smaller Martian moon, Deimos, as observed by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.
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This movie clip shows the larger of Mars' two moons, Phobos, passing in front of the smaller Martian moon, Deimos, as observed by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.
Two Moons Passing in the Martian Night
This illustration provides a comparison for how big the moons of Mars appear to be, as seen from the surface of Mars, in relation to the size that Earth's moon appears to be when seen from the surf...
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This illustration provides a comparison for how big the moons of Mars appear to be, as seen from the surface of Mars, in relation to the size that Earth's moon appears to be when seen from the surface of Earth.
Illustration Comparing Apparent Sizes of Moons
This animation and still image of comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring were taken by the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover as the comet passed near the red planet on Oct. 19, 2014.
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This animation and still image of comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring were taken by the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover as the comet passed near the red planet on Oct. 19, 2014.
Mars Curiosity Rover Views Comet Siding Spring
This wide view of the "John Klein" location selected for the first rock drilling by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is a mosaic taken by Curiosity's right Mast Camera (Mastcam) during the afternoon of ...
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This wide view of the "John Klein" location selected for the first rock drilling by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is a mosaic taken by Curiosity's right Mast Camera (Mastcam) during the afternoon of the 153rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars.
Neighborhood for Curiosity's First Drilling Campaign
NASA's Mars Science Laboratory lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
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NASA's Mars Science Laboratory lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Mars Mission Blasts Off
Guided tour of the NASA Curiosity Mars rover's flight hardware at Kennedy Space Center.
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Curiosity at Kennedy Space Center
Curiosity at Kennedy Space Center
Curiosity location for Sol 313
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Curiosity location for Sol 313
Curiosity location for Sol 313
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this selfie on May 12, 2019 (the 2,405th Martian day, or sol, of the mission). To the lower-left of the rover are its two recent drill holes, at targets called "Abe...
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NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this selfie on May 12, 2019
Curiosity's Selfie at 'Aberlady' and 'Kilmarie'
This map shows the route that NASA's Curiosity Mars rover drove inside Gale Crater from its landing in August 2013 through the 524th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Jan. 26, 2004).
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This map shows the route that NASA's Curiosity Mars rover drove inside Gale Crater from its landing in August 2013 through the 524th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Jan. 26, 2004).
Traverse Map for Mars Rover Curiosity as of Jan. 26, 2014
At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians process the backshell for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL).
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At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians process the backshell for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL).
Preparing the Backshell
This pair of images from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the rock target "Cumberland" before and after Curiosity drilled into it to collect a sample for analy...
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This pair of images from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the rock target "Cumberland" before and after Curiosity drilled into it to collect a sample for analysis.
Before-and-After Blink of 'Cumberland' Drilling
This image of the northwestern portion of Mars' Gale Crater and terrain north of it, from the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter, provides a locator map for some features visible in an Oc...
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This image of the northwestern portion of Mars' Gale Crater and terrain north of it, from the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter, provides a locator map for some features visible in an October 2017 panorama from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.
Locator Map for Features in Curiosity Panorama
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover and tracks left by its driving appear in this portion of a Dec. 11, 2013, observation by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Re...
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NASA's Curiosity Mars rover and tracks left by its driving appear in this portion of a Dec. 11, 2013, observation by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Curiosity Trekking, Viewed from Orbit in December 2013
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover examined both the "Greenhorn" and "Big Sky" targets with the rover's Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument. Greenhorn is located within an altered fracture...
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NASA's Curiosity Mars rover examined both the "Greenhorn" and "Big Sky" targets with the rover's Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument.
'Big Sky' and 'Greenhorn' Elemental Comparison
The Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity showed researchers interesting internal color in this rock called "Sutton_Inlier," which was broken by the rover driving over it.
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The Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity showed researchers interesting internal color in this rock called "Sutton_Inlier," which was broken by the rover driving over it.
Bluish Color in Broken Rock in 'Yellowknife Bay'
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, right, is presented a plaque by JPL Director Michael Watkins during a tour of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Saturday, April 28, 2018 in Pasadena, California. The...
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U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, right, is presented a plaque by JPL Director Michael Watkins during a tour of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Saturday, April 28, 2018 in Pasadena, California. The plaque presents a view of the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity on the surface of Mars.
Vice President Pence Tours Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The dual sections of the Atlas V payload fairing for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission await further processing in the airlock of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kenne...
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The dual sections of the Atlas V payload fairing for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission await further processing in the airlock of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Payload Fairing Side-by-Side
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity heads on the long journey to the mission's main destination, Mount Sharp.
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Trek to Mount Sharp Begins
Trek to Mount Sharp Begins
See the steep slopes, layered buttes, and dark rocks surrounding Curiosity while it was parked below Gediz Vallis Ridge, which formed as a result of violent debris flows that were later eroded by w...
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On Aug. 19, 2023, Curiosity’s Mastcam took 136 images that were stitched together into this mosaic after being sent back to Earth. The color has been adjusted to match lighting conditions as the human eye would see them on Earth.
NASA's Curiosity Rover Reaches Gediz Vallis Ridge (360 View)
This view from NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover shows the downwind side of a dune about 13 feet high within the Bagnold Dunes field on Mars. The rover's Navigation Camera took the component images on De...
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This view from NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover shows the downwind side of a dune about 13 feet high within the Bagnold Dunes field on Mars. The rover's Navigation Camera took the component images on Dec. 17, 2015. As on Earth, the downwind side of an active sand dune has a steep slope called a slip face.
Slip face on Downwind Side of 'Namib' Sand Dune on Mars

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