Skip Navigation
menu

Images

Mars Exploration Rovers: Spirit & Opportunity - Artist's Concept

This artist's rendering depicts NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The twin rovers were launched in 2003 and arrived on Mars in January 2004.

December 10, 2015

This artist's rendering depicts NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The twin rovers were launched in 2003 and arrived on Mars in January 2004.

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

Credits

NASA/JPL-Caltech

ENLARGE

Related

As part of a NASA-ESA campaign to return rock and soil samples from Mars to Earth, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are designing a lander which will be the heaviest spacecraft ever to...
More
As part of a NASA-ESA campaign to return rock and soil samples from Mars to Earth, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are designing a lander which will be the heaviest spacecraft ever to touch down on the Red Planet.
#MarsSampleReturn: How Do You Test the Legs of NASA's Heaviest Mars Spacecraft?
Drive along with NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover and hear the voices of scientists and engineers behind the mission. Designed to run for 90 days, the exploration spanned more than 15 years from 2004 ...
More
Drive along with NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover and hear the voices of scientists and engineers behind the mission. Designed to run for 90 days, the exploration spanned more than 15 years from 2004 to 2019. Along the way, it discovered definitive proof of liquid water on ancient Mars and set the off-world driving record.
Opportunity: NASA Rover Completes Mars Mission
Kris Capraro adds the finishing touches of realistic color to the model meteorite.
More
Researcher Kris Capraro adds the finishing touches of realistic color to a model of the "Block Island" meteorite.
Building a Meteorite Model
​As part of a Mars sample return mission, a rocket will carry a container of sample tubes with Martian rock and soil samples into orbit around Mars and release it for pick up by another spacecraft. 
More
​As part of a Mars sample return mission, a rocket will carry a container of sample tubes with Martian rock and soil samples into orbit around Mars and release it for pick up by another spacecraft.
Mars Ascent Vehicle Deploying Sample Container in Orbit (Artist's Concept)
The Mars 2020 spacecraft follows an entry, descent, landing process similar to that used in landing the Mars rover, Curiosity.
More
The Mars 2020 spacecraft follows an entry, descent, landing process similar to that used in landing the Mars rover, Curiosity.
Entry, Descent, and Landing System
Download a PDF of Curiosity's Pre-Landing Lithograph.
More
Curiosity's Pre-Landing Lithograph
Curiosity's Pre-Landing Lithograph
On the 3,309th Martian day, or sol, of its mission on Mars (May 15, 2013) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity drove 263 feet (80 meters) southward along the western rim of Endeavour Crater.
More
On the 3,309th Martian day, or sol, of its mission on Mars (May 15, 2013) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity drove 263 feet (80 meters) southward along the western rim of Endeavour Crater.
View Back at Record-Setting Drive by Opportunity
This June 2017 stereo view from NASA's Opportunity Mars rover shows the area just above "Perseverance Valley" on the rim of a crater. It combines images from the left eye and right eye of the ro...
More
This June 2017 stereo view from NASA's Opportunity Mars rover shows the area just above "Perseverance Valley" on the rim of a crater. It combines images from the left eye and right eye of the rover's Pancam to appear three-dimensional when seen through blue-red glasses with the red lens on the left.
Panorama Above 'Perseverance Valley' on Mars (Stereo)
On Sept. 7 NASA’s ASPIRE project broke a record when its rocket-launched parachute deployed in 4-10ths of a second - the fastest inflation of this size chute in history.
More
On Sept. 7 NASA’s ASPIRE project broke a record when its rocket-launched parachute deployed in 4-10ths of a second - the fastest inflation of this size chute in history.
Testing a Parachute for Mars
This series of images shows simulated views of a darkening Martian sky blotting out the Sun from NASA’s Opportunity rover’s point of view, with the right side simulating Opportunity’s current view ...
More
This series of images shows simulated views of a darkening Martian sky blotting out the Sun from NASA’s Opportunity rover’s point of view, with the right side simulating Opportunity’s current view in the global dust storm (June 2018).
Shades of Martian Darkness
This image shows the trail of NASA’s Mars InSight lander over the Los Angeles area after launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Central California on May 5, 2018. This is a stack of exposures ...
More
This image shows the trail of NASA’s Mars InSight lander over the Los Angeles area after launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Central California on May 5, 2018. This is a stack of exposures taken from Mt. Wilson.
InSight on Its Way to Mars
This 3D view of geologic feature the Mars Perseverance rover team calls “Raised Ridges” was generated from data collected by Ingenuity during its 10th flight at Mars, on July 24, 2021.
More
This 3D view of geologic feature the Mars Perseverance rover team calls “Raised Ridges” was generated from data collected by Ingenuity during its 10th flight at Mars, on July 24, 2021.
Jezero Crater's ‘Raised Ridges' in 3D
This stereo view was taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the rover's 87th martian day, or sol (April 1, 2004), just after Spirit left "Bonneville Crater." It sh...
More
This stereo view was taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the rover's 87th martian day, or sol
Eyeing the Drive Ahead After 'Bonneville' (3-D)
MAVEN observations of a proton aurora. In the top panel, natural variability of the solar wind results in occasional dense flows of solar wind protons bombarding Mars. 
More
Proton aurora with MAVEN data
Proton Aurora with MAVEN Data
On the 20th anniversary of the landing of Spirit and Opportunity, celebrate NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Project with this two-sided poster that lists some of the pioneering explorers’ accomplishm...
More
On the 20th anniversary of the landing of Spirit and Opportunity, celebrate NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Project with this two-sided poster.
Spirit & Opportunity 20th Anniversary Poster
Team members reflect on Spirit's six-years of roving Mars.
More
Spirit's Triumphs on Mars
Spirit's Triumphs on Mars
The second Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, was the first NASA mission lifted on what is referred to as a Delta II "heavy" rocket.
More
The second Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, was the first NASA mission lifted on what is referred to as a Delta II "heavy" rocket.
Opportunity Rover Delta II Launch
This animation shows a proton aurora at Mars. First, a solar wind proton approaches Mars at high speed and encounters a cloud of hydrogen surrounding the planet. 
More
Animation of Proton aurora at Mars
Animation of Proton Aurora at Mars
On the horizon in the right half of this panoramic view is an area of Mars informally named "Matijevic Hill," in commemoration of an influential rover-team leader.
More
On the horizon in the right half of this panoramic view is an area of Mars informally named "Matijevic Hill," in commemoration of an influential rover-team leader.
'Matijevic Hill' on Rim of Mars' Endeavour Crater, Stereo View
Rover 1 sits atop the deployed lander with its solar arrays and wheels stowed.
More
Rover 1 sits atop the deployed lander with its solar arrays and wheels stowed.
Mars Exploration Rovers: Rover 1 and lander
Seen are six views of the Nili Fossae region of Mars captured by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, or CRISM, one of the instruments aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter...
More
This image shows six views of the Nili Fossae region of Mars captured by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, or CRISM..
Six Views of Nili Fossae, as Seen by MRO's CRISM
This March 21, 2016, image from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars rover Opportunity shows streaks of dust or sand on the vehicle's rear solar panel after a series of drives during which the rove...
More
This March 21, 2016, image from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars rover Opportunity shows streaks of dust or sand on the vehicle's rear solar panel after a series of drives during which the rover was pointed steeply uphill. The tilt and jostling of the drives affected material on the rover deck.
Streaks on Opportunity Solar Panel After Uphill Drive
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson addresses participants during a climate roundtable at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on Oct. 14, 2021.
More
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson addresses participants during a climate roundtable at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on Oct. 14, 2021.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson Climate Roundtable
See how Mars Exploration Rover team members take on the demands of driving a rover millions of miles away from Earth.
More
Opportunity: 10 Years on Mars - Operating a Rover
Opportunity: 10 Years on Mars - Operating a Rover
Advanced spacesuit designer Amy Ross of NASA's Johnson Space Center stands with the Z-2, a prototype spacesuit.
More
Spacesuit designer Amy Ross stands with a prototype spacesuit
Spacesuit Designer Amy Ross

You Might Also Like

The agency is asking the NASA community to work together to develop a revised plan that leverages innovation and proven technology.
More
NASA Sets Path to Return Mars Samples, Seeks Innovative Designs
NASA Sets Path to Return Mars Samples, Seeks Innovative Designs
NASA has proven powered, controlled flight is possible on other worlds, just as the Wright brothers proved it was possible on Earth.
More
After Three Years on Mars, NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends
After Three Years on Mars, NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends
The agency established the board in May 2023 to evaluate the technical, cost, and schedule plans prior to confirmation of the mission’s design.
More
NASA Releases Independent Review's Mars Sample Return Report
NASA Releases Independent Review's Mars Sample Return Report
A pair of quakes in 2021 sent seismic waves deep into the Red Planet’s core, giving scientists the best data yet on its size and composition.
More
NASA InSight Study Provides Clearest Look Ever at Martian Core
NASA InSight Study Provides Clearest Look Ever at Martian Core
Ten sample tubes, capturing an amazing variety of Martian geology, have been deposited on Mars’ surface so they could be studied on Earth in the future.
More
NASA's Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot
NASA's Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot
Filled with rock, the sample tube will be one of 10 forming a depot of tubes that could be considered for a journey to Earth by the Mars Sample Return campaign.
More
NASA's Perseverance Rover Deposits First Sample on Mars Surface
NASA's Perseverance Rover Deposits First Sample on Mars Surface