Skip Navigation
menu

CURIOSITY IMAGES

Leonardo da Vinci's Self-Portrait

Leonardo da Vinci's Self-Portrait

July 24, 2012

An etched version of Leonardo da Vinci's self-portrait on the Microchip to be placed aboard NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover.

Leonardo da Vinci's Codex on Bird Flight, a document from about 1505 was reproduced on a microscopic scale and fastened to the chip on Curiosity. Leonardo's self-portrait is also on the rover, along with some essays, drawings, and other submissions from finalists and semi-finalists who participated in the "Send Your Name to Mars" rover naming contest opportunity.

Credits

Biblioteca Reale, Turin, in collaboration with NASA/JPL-Caltech

ENLARGE

Related

Download a zip file of Curiosity’s Landing Site: Topographic Model of Gale Crater.
More
Curiosity’s Landing Site: Topographic Model of Gale Crater
Curiosity's Landing Site: Topographic Model of Gale Crater
A shiny-looking Martian rock is visible in this image taken by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) during the mission's 173rd Martian day, or sol (Jan. 30, 2013).
More
A shiny-looking Martian rock is visible in this image taken by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) during the mission's 173rd Martian day, or sol (Jan. 30, 2013).
Shiny-Looking Martian Rock
A test operator in clean-room garb holds umbilical cables for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity during the rover's first drive test, on July 23, 2010.
More
A test operator in clean-room garb holds umbilical cables for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity during the rover's first drive test, on July 23, 2010.
Next Mars Rover Starts Rolling
This graphic depicts paths by which carbon has been exchanged among Martian interior, surface rocks, polar caps, waters and atmosphere, and also depicts a mechanism by which it is lost from the atm...
More
This graphic depicts paths by which carbon has been exchanged among Martian interior, surface rocks, polar caps, waters and atmosphere, and also depicts a mechanism by which it is lost from the atmosphere with a strong effect on isotope ratio.
Carbon Exchange and Loss Processes on Mars
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 123rd Martian day, or sol, (De...
More
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 123rd Martian day, or sol, (Dec. 10, 2012).
Curiosity Traverse Map, Sol 123
In the clean room at JPL, engineers gather around the base of Curiosity's "neck" (the Mast) as they slowly lower it into place for attachment to the rover’s "body" (the Wet Electronics Box, or "WEB").
More
In this image, engineers are dressed head to toe in "bunny suits" (white hoods, lab-style coats and gloves). Only their eyes and foreheads can be seen. They are huddled around the base of the rover's "neck" (its Mast). They watch intently as they carefully lower the Mast to attach it to the rover's flat "back." A cluster of yellow and red wires on the rover's body pokes up in the foreground of the image.
Attaching Curiosity's Mast
This early 2017 look ahead from the Mastcam of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover includes four geological layers to be examined by the mission, and higher reaches of Mount Sharp beyond the planned study ...
More
This early 2017 look ahead from the Mastcam of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover includes four geological layers to be examined by the mission, and higher reaches of Mount Sharp beyond the planned study area. "Vera Rubin Ridge" sits just above the reddish foreground rocks of the Murray formation.
View Toward 'Vera Rubin Ridge' on Mount Sharp, Mars
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this image with its left front Hazard-Avoidance Camera (Hazcam) just after completing a drive that took the mission's total driving distance past the 1 kilomete...
More
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this image with its left front Hazard-Avoidance Camera (Hazcam) just after completing a drive that took the mission's total driving distance past the 1 kilometer (0.62 mile) mark.
One Down, Many Kilometers to Go
This full-resolution image from NASA's Curiosity shows the turret of tools at the end of the rover's extended robotic arm on Aug. 20, 2012. The Navigation Camera captured this view.
More
This full-resolution image from NASA's Curiosity shows the turret of tools at the end of the rover's extended robotic arm on Aug. 20, 2012. The Navigation Camera captured this view.
End of Curiosity's Extended Arm, Full-Resolution
Preparation for Testing of Mars Landing Radar
More
Preparation for Testing of Mars Landing Radar
Preparation for Testing of Mars Landing Radar
Building Curiosity: Engineers give the rover lessons in hand-eye coordination.
More
Building Curiosity: Engineers give the rover lessons in hand-eye coordination.
Teaching Hand-Eye Coordination
A web of shadows stretches across the 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket as the early morning sun shines through a metal lightning mast (left) at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Ca...
More
A web of shadows stretches across the 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket as the early morning sun shines through a metal lightning mast (left) at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Sunshine Drapes Atlas V Rocket
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.
More
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.
Altered Landing Target in Gale Crater, Mars
The leader of the entry, descent and landing team of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory project, Adam Steltzner of JPL (left), accepts the 2013 Trophy for Current Achievement from the Smithsonian Natio...
More
The leader of the entry, descent and landing team of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory project, Adam Steltzner of JPL (left), accepts the 2013 Trophy for Current Achievement from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum from museum director Gen. J. R. "Jack" Dailey on April 24, 2013.
National Air and Space Museum Trophy for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory
How does a rover keep driving on a planet with no gas stations? Shonte Tucker, Sabah Bux and Rob Manning power us through the ways Mars rovers keep going.
More
How does a rover keep driving on a planet with no gas stations? Shonte Tucker, Sabah Bux and Rob Manning power us through the ways Mars rovers keep going.
The Power of the Rovers
.
More
This black-and-white image shows a large crater and small crater on the surface of Mars in three views, in which the craters are in slightly different positions relative to the middle of each of the three frames. It simulates what the camera might see as it moved horizontally through the atmosphere during descent. A sunflower-petal-like blanket of ejected rocks and soil surround the dark hole of the bright rimmed crater.
Mars Exploration Rovers simulated descent imager
This wide panorama was taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on Dec. 19, 2019, the 2,620th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. On the righthand foreground is Western Butte; the ridge with a crusty ...
More
wide panorama of Mars
Curiosity Captures a Spaghetti Western Landscape on Mars
This image taken by NASA's Curiosity shows what lies ahead for the rover -- its main science target, Mount Sharp.
More
This image taken by NASA's Curiosity shows what lies ahead for the rover -- its main science target, Mount Sharp.
Behold Mount Sharp!
How will we know if Curiosity has landed safely on the surface of Mars?
More
Phoning Home: Communicating from Mars
Mars in a Minute: Phoning Home: Communicating from Mars
A swept Martian rock called "Bonanza King" can be seen in this image take by NASA's Mars Curiosity rover.
More
This image shows Bonanza King rock with a brown surface and in the middle is a partly drilled spot shown in lighter blue.
A Bonanza of Clues About Mars
This 360-degree panorama from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the rocky terrain surrounding it as of its 55th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Oct. 1, 2012).
More
This 360-degree panorama from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the rocky terrain surrounding it as of its 55th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Oct. 1, 2012).
View on the Way to 'Glenelg'
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its Mastcam instrument to take the 32 individual images that make up this panorama of the outcrop nicknamed “Mont Mercou.” It took a second panorama to create a ste...
More
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its Mastcam instrument to take the 32 individual images that make up this panorama of the outcrop nicknamed “Mont Mercou.”
Curiosity's 3D View of 'Mont Mercou'
This image from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows inclined layering known as cross-bedding in an outcrop called "Shaler" on a scale of a few tenths of meters, or decime...
More
This image from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows inclined layering known as cross-bedding in an outcrop called "Shaler" on a scale of a few tenths of meters, or decimeters (1 decimeter is nearly 4 inches).
'Shaler' Unit's Evidence of Stream Flow (Unannotated)
View of the landscape to the north of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity acquired by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the afternoon of the first day after landing
More
First Color Image of the Martian Landscape Returned from Curiosity
First Color Image of the Martian Landscape Returned from Curiosity
This graphic shows key features of the Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS), one of the instruments within the laboratory suite named Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) aboard NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.
More
This graphic shows the Tunable Laser Spectrometer, one of the tools within the Sample Analysis at Mars laboratory on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. By measuring absorption of light at specific wavelengths, it measures concentrations of methane, carbon dioxide and water vapor in Mars' atmosphere.
Tunable Laser Spectrometer on NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover

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