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Hugs Upon Curiosity's Landing

The Entry, Descent and Landing team celebrate just moments after news that Curiosity landed safely on Mars.

August 06, 2012

The Entry, Descent and Landing team celebrate just moments after news that Curiosity landed safely on Mars.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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This full-circle view combined nearly 900 images taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, generating a panorama with 1.3 billion pixels in the full-resolution version.
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This full-circle view combined nearly 900 images taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, generating a panorama with 1.3 billion pixels in the full-resolution version.
Billion-Pixel View From Curiosity at Rocknest, White-Balanced
Backdropped by the Atlantic Ocean, the 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rolls toward the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Ato...
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Backdropped by the Atlantic Ocean, the 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rolls toward the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Atop the rocket is NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), enclosed in its payload fairing.
Atlas V Rolls Out to Pad
Curiosity location for Sol 313
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Curiosity location for Sol 313
Curiosity location for Sol 313
A swept Martian rock called "Bonanza King" can be seen in this image take by NASA's Mars Curiosity rover.
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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 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...
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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
NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover drilled this hole to collect sample material from a rock target called "Buckskin" on July 30, 2015, about a week prior to the third anniversary of the rover's landing on...
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NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover drilled this hole to collect sample material from a rock target called "Buckskin" on July 30, 2015, about a week prior to the third anniversary of the rover's landing on Mars. The diameter is slightly smaller than a U.S. dime.
Hole at 'Buckskin' Drilled Days Before Landing Anniversary
As the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite of instruments on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover heats a sample, gases are released (or "evolved") from the sample and can be identified using SAM's quadrupo...
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As the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite of instruments on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover heats a sample, gases are released (or "evolved") from the sample and can be identified using SAM's quadrupole mass spectrometer.
Major Volatiles Released from the Fourth 'John Klein' Portion
This detailed panorama from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a view toward two areas on lower Mount Sharp chosen for close-up inspection: "Mount Shields" and "Logan Pa...
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This April 16, 2015, panorama from the Mast Camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a detailed view toward two areas on lower Mount Sharp chosen for close-up inspection in subsequent weeks: "Mount Shields" and "Logan Pass."
Looking Toward Curiosity Study Areas, Spring 2015 (Unlabeled)
Checking Contact Points for Curiosity's Drill
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Checking Contact Points for Curiosity's Drill
Checking Contact Points for Curiosity's Drill (Annotated)
Team members celebrate in JPL's Curiosity Surface Mission Support Area when images are received confirming Curiosity's first drive on Mars on Aug. 22, 2012. (Audio: background sounds and cheering o...
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First Drive Celebration
First Drive Celebration
Download NASA's Mars Curiosity rover coloring sheet.
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Download NASA's Mars Curiosity rover coloring sheet.
Mars Curiosity Rover, Coloring Sheet
This video (part 3 of a 4 part series) shows engineers testing a new parachute in the largest wind tunnel on Earth for the Curiosity rover prior to its landing on August 2012.
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The Martians: Testing Curiosity's Parachute - Part 3
The Martians: Testing Curiosity's Parachute - Part 3
This closeup view from NASA's Curiosity rover shows finely layered rocks, deposited by wind long ago as migrating sand dunes.
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This closeup view from NASA's Curiosity rover shows finely layered rocks, deposited by wind long ago as migrating sand dunes.
Farewell to Murray Buttes (Image 3)
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove 6.2 feet (1.9 meters) during the 100th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Nov. 16, 2012).
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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove 6.2 feet (1.9 meters) during the 100th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Nov. 16, 2012).
Curiosity's Eastward View After Sol 100 Drive
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
At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the "back shell powered descent vehicle" configuration, containing NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curio...
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At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the "back shell powered descent vehicle" configuration, containing NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, is being placed on the spacecraft's heat shield.
Connecting Curiosity's Heat Shield and Back Shell
Download a PDF of the Mars Science Laboratory Launch Press Kit.
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MSL launch press kit
Mars Science Laboratory Launch Press Kit
Episode one launches with Jennifer Trosper in the driver’s seat. As she looks in the rearview mirror at twenty-five years of exploring with NASA’s Mars rovers, she reveals how their progression has...
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Episode one launches with Jennifer Trosper in the driver’s seat. As she looks in the rearview mirror at twenty-five years of exploring with NASA’s Mars rovers, she reveals how their progression has kept pace with milestones in her life.
Driven to Mars
This set of images compares a black-and-white image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to a color image obtained by the Mars Desc...
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This set of images compares a black-and-white image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to a color image obtained by the Mars Descent Imager aboard NASA's Curiosity rover during its descent to the surface.
A Better Look of the Martian Surface
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 ...
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wide panorama of Mars
Curiosity Captures a Spaghetti Western Landscape on Mars
Climbing "Vera Rubin Ridge" provided NASA's Curiosity Mars rover this vista of the interior and rim of Gale Crater, including much of the rover's route since its 2012 landing and features up to abo...
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Climbing "Vera Rubin Ridge" provided NASA's Curiosity Mars rover this vista of the interior and rim of Gale Crater, including much of the rover's route since its 2012 landing and features up to about 50 miles away. The left-eye camera of the rover's Mastcam took the component images Oct. 25, 2017.
Wide-Angle Panorama from Ridge in Mars' Gale Crater
This GIF shows clouds drifting over Mount Sharp on Mars, as viewed by NASA’s Curiosity rover on March 19, 2021, the 3,063rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Each frame of the scene was stitched...
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This GIF shows clouds drifting over Mount Sharp on Mars, as viewed by NASA’s Curiosity rover on March 19, 2021, the 3,063rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Each frame of the scene was stitched together from six individual images.
Curiosity GIF Shows Drifting Clouds Over Mars' Mount Sharp
A sweeping panorama combining 33 telephoto images into one Martian vista presents details of several types of terrain visible on Mount Sharp from a location along the route of NASA's Curiosity Mars...
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A sweeping panorama combining 33 telephoto images into one Martian vista presents details of several types of terrain visible on Mount Sharp from a location along the route of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. The component images were taken by the rover's Mast Camera on April 10, 2015.
Diverse Terrain Types on Mount Sharp, Mars (Unlabeled)
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...
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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 its location in September 2016 at "Murray Buttes," and the path planned for reaching destinations at "Hematite Unit" and "Clay Unit" on lower Mount Sharp.
Curiosity Destinations for Second Extended Mission

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