Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Fact Sheet

This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the location where it landed in August 2012 to its location in December 2015, at examples of the Bagnold Dunes.

This photomontage shows each of the sample tubes deposited by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover at the “Three Forks” sample depot, as viewed by the WATSON camera on the end of the rover’s robotic arm.

The HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this image of the Perseverance rover on Feb. 24, 2021.

Members of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission pose at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the mission, on June 23, 2016.

NASA’s InSight has been busy. After landing on the Red Planet, the mission sent home pictures and sound, then placed its first instrument on the planet's surface. Plus, find out what the Curiosity ...

This illustration shows a concept of how the NASA Mars Ascent Vehicle, carrying tubes containing rock and soil samples, could be launched from the surface of Mars in one step of the Mars sample ret...

Buzz Aldrin, an Apollo 11 astronaut who walked on the moon, makes a holographic appearance in 'Destination: Mars,' a mixed-reality tour of a part of Mars that NASA's Curiosity rover has explored.

This graphic shows the route that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity drove in its final approach to "Perseverance Valley" on the western rim of Endeavour Crater during spring 2017.

Al Chen and Swati Mohan guide us through the many stages of a rover’s flight to Mars.

This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the location where it landed in August 2012 to its location in September 2016 at "Murray Buttes," and the path planned for reachi...

In this image, engineers test cameras on the top of the mast and front chassis of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. The image was taken on July 23, 2019, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southe...

Explanation on how CRISM hyperspectral images are used to understand the history and formation of Valles Marineris, one of the largest canyons in the solar system, and how the data is used to unrav...

This artist's concept shows NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission over the red planet.

This stereo image from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows a rock outcrop called "Hottah," cited as evidence for vigorous flow of water in a long-ago Martian stream. The ...

The Mars Climate Sounder, an instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter designed to monitor daily changes in the global atmosphere of Mars, made its first observations of Mars on March 24, 2006.

Recurring slope lineae (RSL) are active flows on warm Martian slopes that might be caused by seeping water.

A view from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on April 8, 2015, catches sight of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover passing through a valley called "Artist's Drive" on the lower slope of Mount Sharp.

Researchers estimating the amount of carbon held in the ground at the largest known carbonate-containing deposit on Mars utilized data from three different NASA Mars orbiters.

Scientists with NASA's Mars 2020 mission and the European-Russian ExoMars mission traveled to the Australian Outback to hone their research techniques before their missions launch to the Red Planet...

Anniversary artwork shows a NASA Viking 1 Lander or Viking 2 Lander on the surface of Mars. Landing in 1976, Viking Landers were the first to touch down on the Red Planet.

Meet one of the Martian samples that has been collected and is awaiting return to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign. As of late July 2023, NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover has collecte...

What can you see in July’s night skies? Mars opposition on the 27th, when Mars, Earth and the Sun all line up, and Mars’ closest approach to Earth since 2003 on the 31st.

This anaglyph, acquired by NASA's Phoenix Lander's Surface Stereo Imager on Sol 33, the 33rd Martian day of the mission (June 28, 2008), shows a stereoscopic 3D view of the Martian surface near the...

This mosaic was stitched together using images from the Navigation Camera, or Navcam, on NASA's Opportunity rover. The scene shows the rover's tracks made in Perseverance Valley between Sols 5,000 ...

This large outflow channel shows many characteristic signs that massive amounts of water have flowed through this area, including the teardrop and streamlined islands.