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President Obama Calls Curiosity Team

August 13, 2012

President Obama phoned the team at JPL on Monday, Aug. 13, to congratulate them on the successful landing of Curiosity. "It's inspiring to all of us. Photographs that are coming back are going to be remarkable and amazing," President Obama said.

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The team developing NASA's Mars Science Laboratory calls this test rover "Scarecrow" because the vehicle does not include a computer brain. Mobility engineers use this test rover to evaluate mobili...
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The team developing NASA's Mars Science Laboratory calls this test rover "Scarecrow" because the vehicle does not include a computer brain. Mobility engineers use this test rover to evaluate mobility and suspension performance.
"Scarecrow"
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture this mound of rock nicknamed “East Cliffs” on May 7, 2022, the 3,466th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. 
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NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture this mound of rock nicknamed “East Cliffs” on May 7, 2022, the 3,466th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
Door-Shaped Fracture Spotted by Curiosity at 'East Cliffs'
This graphic shows the level of natural radiation detected by the Radiation Assessment Detector shielded inside NASA's Mars Science Laboratory on the trip from Earth to Mars from December 2011 to J...
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This graphic shows the level of natural radiation detected by the Radiation Assessment Detector shielded inside NASA's Mars Science Laboratory on the trip from Earth to Mars from December 2011 to July 2012.
Radiation Measurements During Trip From Earth to Mars
This self-portrait of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines 66 exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Feb. 3...
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This self-portrait of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines 66 exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Feb. 3, 2013).
Curiosity Rover's Self Portrait at 'John Klein' Drilling Site
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 and Microsoft have teamed up to create "Destination: Mars," a guided tour of Mars using the same Hololens technology that helps scientists plan the Curiosity rover's activities.
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Mixed-Reality Tech Brings Mars to Earth
NASA's Mars rovers keep getting bigger. This photo provides a comparison of the wheel sizes for three generations of them.
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NASA's Mars rovers keep getting bigger. This photo provides a comparison of the wheel sizes for three generations of them.
Rover Wheel Sizes (Isometric)
This set of images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a fierce dust storm is kicking up on Mars, with rovers on the surface indicated as icons.
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This set of images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a fierce dust storm is kicking up on Mars, with rovers on the surface indicated as icons.
2018 Giant Dust Storm on Mars
Scientist Rob Sullivan explores the Dumont Dunes area, on the hunt for the best place to test-drive the Scarecrow rover.
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mars rover, desert, dune, test, Scarecrow - Scientist Rob Sullivan hikes up the side of a giant dune, leaving a long trail of footprints in the sand.
Desolate Landscape
Grad student Nicholas Boyd (left) and Principal Investigator Ralf Gellert, both of the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, prepare for the installation of the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer s...
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Grad student Nicholas Boyd (left) and Principal Investigator Ralf Gellert, both of the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, prepare for the installation of the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer sensor head during testing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Preparing to Install APXS Sensor Head
Amanda Steffy and Rob Sullivan help shape a course of sand ripples for the Scarecrow rover to drive over. This test was done in the Dumont Dunes in California's Mojave Desert, near Death Valley.
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sand dune, mars rover, wheel, Dumont, Scarecrow, test - This image shows a row of uphill, white sand dunes that JPL engineers shape with long rakes for desert rover test, under blue skies. The Scarecrow rover sits at the bottom, waiting to be tested.
Replicating Martian Dunes
This movie shows the first 360-degree panorama in color of the Gale Crater landing site taken by NASA's Curiosity rover. It was made from thumbnail versions of images taken by the Mast Camera. (No ...
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Curiosity's First Low-Resolution Color Panorama
Curiosity's First Low-Resolution Color Panorama
Two of the raised treads, called grousers, on the left middle wheel of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover broke during the first quarter of 2017, including the one seen partially detached at the top of th...
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Two of the raised treads, called grousers, on the left middle wheel of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover broke during the first quarter of 2017, including the one seen partially detached at the top of the wheel in this image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on the rover's arm.
Break in Raised Tread on Curiosity Wheel
This photo shows 70 members of the Mars Science Laboratory team in Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Spacecraft Assembly Facility after they have prepared the spacecraft to go to a different area for the...
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This photo shows 70 members of the Mars Science Laboratory team in Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Spacecraft Assembly Facility after they have prepared the spacecraft to go to a different area for the environmental tests. The team members are dressed in "bunny suits" (white protective gear) and are positioned in various poses in front of the spacecraft.
Mars Science Laboratory Talks, Rocks, Bakes and Chills (Team)
This artists concept of MSL is a still from the MSL Mission Overview video demonstrating the ChemCam instrument.
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This artists concept of MSL is a still from the MSL Mission Overview video demonstrating the ChemCam instrument.
MSL Still from Overview video with laser
An etched version of Leonardo da Vinci's self-portrait on the Microchip to be placed aboard NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover.
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Leonardo da Vinci's Self-Portrait
Leonardo da Vinci's Self-Portrait
This version of a self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover at a drilling site called "Buckskin" is presented as a stereographic projection, which shows the horizon as a circle. The MAHLI camera...
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This version of a self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover at a drilling site called "Buckskin" is presented as a stereographic projection, which shows the horizon as a circle. The MAHLI camera on Curiosity's robotic arm took dozens of component images for this selfie on Aug. 5, 2015.
Round-Horizon Version of Curiosity's Low-Angle Selfie at 'Buckskin'
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Curiosity Welcomes MAVEN to Mars
Curiosity Welcomes MAVEN to Mars
While Curiosity continues to blaze a trail to Mount Sharp, the rover takes time to shoot a Martian moon movie.
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The Odometer Keeps Turning
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This May 22, 2015, view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) in NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the "Marias Pass" area where a lower and older geological unit of mudstone -- the pale zone in the center...
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This May 22, 2015, view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) in NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the "Marias Pass" area where a lower and older geological unit of mudstone -- the pale zone in the center of the image -- lies in contact with an overlying geological unit of sandstone.
'Marias Pass,' Contact Zone of Two Martian Rock Units
A June 2012 revision of the landing target area for Curiosity, the big rover of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, reduces the area's size.
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A June 2012 revision of the landing target area for Curiosity, the big rover of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, reduces the area's size.
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This view of a Martian rock slab called "Old Soaker," which has a network of cracks that may have originated in drying mud, comes from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. It w...
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This view of a Martian rock slab called "Old Soaker," which has a network of cracks that may have originated in drying mud, comes from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. It was taken on Dec. 20, 2016. The slab is about 4 feet long.
Mars Rover's Mastcam View of Possible Mud Cracks
An analysis of a drilled rock sample from NASA's Curiosity rover shows the presence of water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide released on heating. The results analyzing...
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An analysis of a drilled rock sample from NASA's Curiosity rover shows the presence of water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide released on heating. The results analyzing the high temperature water release are consistent with smectite clay minerals.
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This view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows an example of cross-bedding that results from water passing over a loose bed of sediment.
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Cross-Bedding at 'Whale Rock'
This patch of Martian bedrock, about 2 feet (70 centimeters) across, is finely layered rock with some pea-size inclusions. It lies near the lowest point of the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop, which forms ...
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Fine-Grained Rock at Base of Martian Mount Sharp
Fine-Grained, Finely Layered Rock at Base of Martian Mount Sharp

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