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CURIOSITY IMAGES

Clara Ma, Then and Now

Clara Ma, winner of the contest to name NASA's Curiosity rover, in 2009 with an engineering model of the rover (left) and as a graduate student in 2019 (right)

October 22, 2019

Clara Ma, winner of the contest to name NASA's Curiosity rover, in 2009 with an engineering model of the rover (left) and as a graduate student in 2019 (right)

Credits

Left: NASA/JPL-Caltech (left); right: Clara Ma

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Diagram of Lake Stratification on Mars
Diagram of Lake Stratification on Mars
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover measures the concentration of methane in the atmosphere at Gale Crater. A one-time spike in methane, up to about 7 parts per billion occurred during Curiosity's first Ma...
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NASA's Curiosity Mars rover measures the concentration of methane in the atmosphere at Gale Crater. A one-time spike in methane, up to about 7 parts per billion occurred during Curiosity's first Martian year. Variations in much lower background levels of methane may be seasonal.
Methane Background Levels at Gale Crater, Mars
Sandstone layers with varying resistance to erosion are evident in this Martian scene recorded by the Mast Camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on Feb. 25, 2014, about one-quarter mile (about 400 ...
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Sandstone layers with varying resistance to erosion are evident in this Martian scene recorded by the Mast Camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on Feb. 25, 2004, about one-quarter mile (about 400 meters) from a planned waypoint called "the Kimberley."
Differential Erosion at Work on Martian Sandstones (White-Balanced, Annotated)
This map traces where NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove between landing at a site subsequently named "Bradbury Landing," and the position reached during the mission's 130th Martian day, or sol, (De...
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This map traces where NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove between landing at a site subsequently named "Bradbury Landing," and the position reached during the mission's 130th Martian day, or sol, (Dec. 17, 2012).
Curiosity Traverse Map, Sol 130
This right-eye member of a stereo pair of images from the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a full 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings at the site where it fir...
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This right-eye member of a stereo pair of images from the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a full 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings at the site where it first drilled into a rock.
Mars View from 'John Klein' to Mount Sharp, Right Eye
This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the "Bradbury Landing" location where it landed in August 2012 to the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop where it drilled into the lowest pa...
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This is a gray base map of the skirt of Mount Sharp. In red is the rover's path since landing. Blue stars indication the major stops, Bradbury Landing, Darwin, Cooperstown, Kimberley and Pahrump Hills.
Curiosity Mars Rover's Route from Landing to 'Pahrump Hills'
Side-by-side images depict NASA's Curiosity rover (left) and a moon buggy driven during the Apollo 16 mission.
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Side-by-side images depict NASA's Curiosity rover (left) and a moon buggy driven during the Apollo 16 mission.
A Mars Buggy and a Moon Buggy
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover autonomously selects some targets for the laser and telescopic camera of its ChemCam instrument. For example, on-board software analyzed the Navcam image at left, chose ...
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NASA's Curiosity Mars rover autonomously selects some targets for the laser and telescopic camera of its ChemCam instrument. For example, on-board software analyzed the Navcam image at left, chose the target indicated with a yellow dot, and pointed ChemCam for laser shots and the image at right.
Autonomous Selection of a Rover's Laser Target on Mars
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
NASA's Mars Science Laboratory travels near a canyon on Mars in this artist's concept. The mission is under development for launch in 2009 and a precision landing on Mars in 2010.
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NASA's Mars Science Laboratory travels near a canyon on Mars in this artist's concept. The mission is under development for launch in 2009 and a precision landing on Mars in 2010.
Mars Science Laboratory at Canyon (Artist's Concept)
How will we know if Curiosity has landed safely on the surface of Mars?
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Phoning Home: Communicating from Mars
Mars in a Minute: Phoning Home: Communicating from Mars
This view of a Martian rock called "Rocknest 3" combines four images taken by the right-eye camera of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) instrument, which has a telephoto, 100-millimeter-focal-length lens.
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This view of a Martian rock called "Rocknest 3" combines four images taken by the right-eye camera of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) instrument, which has a telephoto, 100-millimeter-focal-length lens.
A Martian Rock Called 'Rocknest 3'
On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the payload fairing protecting NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) stands atop the 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, which is rea...
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On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the payload fairing protecting NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) stands atop the 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, which is ready to roll from the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41.
Mars Science Lab Atop Atlas V
This view from the left Navigation Camera (Navcam) of NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity looks back at wheel tracks made during the first drive away from the last science target in the "Glenelg" area.
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This view from the left Navigation Camera (Navcam) of NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity looks back at wheel tracks made during the first drive away from the last science target in the "Glenelg" area.
First Leg of Long Trek Toward Mount Sharp
This figure shows images acquired through each of the eight filters in the filter wheel of the 34-millimeter-focal-length Mast Camera (MastCam-34) on the Mars rover Curiosity.
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This figure shows images acquired through each of the eight filters in the filter wheel of the 34-millimeter-focal-length Mast Camera (MastCam-34) on the Mars rover Curiosity.
Illustrating MastCam Capabilities with a Terrestrial Scene
Mars Science Laboratory mission team members ran mobility tests on California sand dunes in early May 2012 in preparation for operating the Curiosity rover, currently en route to Mars, after its la...
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Mars Science Laboratory mission team members ran mobility tests on California sand dunes in early May 2012 in preparation for operating the Curiosity rover, currently en route to Mars, after its landing in Mars' Gale Crater.
Test Rover Aids Preparations in California for Curiosity Rover on Mars
This image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows the open inlet where powdered rock and soil samples will be funneled down for analysis.
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This image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows the open inlet where powdered rock and soil samples will be funneled down for analysis.
Say 'Ahh' on Mars
On this image of the rock target "Knorr," color coding maps the amount of mineral hydration indicated by a ratio of near-infrared reflectance intensities measured by the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NA...
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On this image of the rock target "Knorr," color coding maps the amount of mineral hydration indicated by a ratio of near-infrared reflectance intensities measured by the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.
Hydration Map, Based on Mastcam Spectra, for 'Knorr' Rock Target
This artist concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover.
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This artist concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover,
Mars Rover Curiosity in Artist's Concept, Close-up
This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the location where it landed in August 2012 to the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp.
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This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the location where it landed in August 2012 to the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp.
Curiosity Mars Rover's Route from Landing to Base of Mount Sharp
Mars is experiencing large regional dust storms over its northern hemisphere during the past week.
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This movie was acquired by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Mars Colour Imager (MARCI) camera.
The Martian Dust Storm of June 2018
This graphic shows the pattern of winds predicted to be swirling around and inside Gale Crater, which is where NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars.
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This graphic shows the pattern of winds predicted to be swirling around and inside Gale Crater, which is where NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars.
Mountain Winds at Gale Crater
These six images from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity show the two moons of Mars moments before (left three) and after (right three) the larger moon, Phobos, occulted Deimos on Aug. 1, 2013.
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These six images from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity show the two moons of Mars moments before (left three) and after (right three) the larger moon, Phobos, occulted Deimos on Aug. 1, 2013.
Before and After Occultation of Deimos by Phobos
This graphic shows the geologic cross-section through lower Mount Sharp on Mars.
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This graphic shows the geologic cross-section through lower Mount Sharp on Mars. The crater floor is in gray. The Murray Formation in green and the Hematite Ridge is in orange.
Geologic Cross-Section
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

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