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CURIOSITY IMAGES

Powered Descent, Sky Crane & Flyaway

This images shows the powered descent, crane and flyaway portions of edl.

February 16, 2009

This images shows the powered descent, crane and flyaway portions of edl.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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This image from July 2008 shows the aeroshell for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory while it was being worked on by spacecraft technicians at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company near Denver.
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This image from July 2008 shows the aeroshell for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory while it was being worked on by spacecraft technicians at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company near Denver.
Aeroshell for Mars Science Laboratory
This stereo scene looking back at where Curiosity crossed a dune at "Dingo Gap" combines several exposures taken by the Navigation Camera (Navcam) high on the rover's mast. It appears three dimensi...
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This stereo scene looking back at where Curiosity crossed a dune at "Dingo Gap" combines several exposures taken by the Navigation Camera (Navcam) high on the rover's mast.
Panoramic View From West of 'Dingo Gap' (Stereo)
NASA's Curiosity rover uses SAM to make the most sensitive measurements ever to search for methane gas on the red planet.
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SAM Sniffs the Martian Atmosphere
SAM Sniffs the Martian Atmosphere
This map shows the route NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover took from May into July to complete the most difficult climb of the mission. Starting in “Marker Band Valley” (the darker area at the top center...
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This map shows the route NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover took from May into July 2023 to complete the most difficult climb of the mission.
A Map of Curiosity's Difficult Climb
This image shows the first holes into rock drilled by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, with drill tailings around the holes plus piles of powdered rock collected from the deeper hole and later discarde...
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This image shows the first holes into rock drilled by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, with drill tailings around the holes plus piles of powdered rock collected from the deeper hole and later discarded after other portions of the sample had been delivered to analytical instruments inside the rover.
Dust from Mars Drilling: Tailings and Discard Piles (White Balanced - Unannotated)
This low-angle self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from Aug. 5, 2015, shows the vehicle above the "Buckskin" rock target in the "Marias Pass" area of lower Mount Sharp. The MAHLI camera on...
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This low-angle self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from Aug. 5, 2015, shows the vehicle above the "Buckskin" rock target in the "Marias Pass" area of lower Mount Sharp. The MAHLI camera on Curiosity's robotic arm took dozens of images that were stitched together into this sweeping panorama.
Curiosity Low-Angle Self-Portrait at 'Buckskin' Drilling Site on Mount Sharp
This view of the American flag medallion on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity was taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 44th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Sept...
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This view of the American flag medallion on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity was taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 44th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Sept. 19, 2012).
Curiosity's Stars and Stripes
Wispy clouds float across the Martian sky in this accelerated sequence of early-morning images taken on July 17, 2017, by the Navcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.
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Wispy clouds float across the Martian sky in this accelerated sequence of early-morning images taken on July 17, 2017, by the Navcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.
Clouds Sailing Overhead on Mars, Unenhanced
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) team in the MSL Mission Support Area react after learning the Curiosity rover has landed safely on Mars and images start coming in at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory...
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The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) team in the MSL Mission Support Area react after learning the the Curiosity rove has landed safely on Mars and images start coming in at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Mars, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012 in Pasadena, Calif. The MSL Rover named Curiosity was designed to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes.
The Mars Science Laboratory Team
The heritage for investigations with the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover comes from NASA's Odyssey orbiter.
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The heritage for investigations with the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover comes from NASA's Odyssey orbiter.
Laying the Groundwork for Curiosity's DAN
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
The area in and near the landing site selected for landing of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory offers a diversity of possible targets for examination by the mission's rover, Curiosity.
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The area in and near the landing site selected for landing of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory offers a diversity of possible targets for examination by the mission's rover, Curiosity.
Attractions for Study in and near Curiosity's Selected Landing Site
This image shows the topography, with shading added, around the area where NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT).
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This image shows the topography, with shading added, around the area where NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT).
Where Water Flowed Downslope
This image shows engineers' refinements of where NASA's Curiosity rover will enter the atmosphere of Mars on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT).
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This image shows engineers' refinements of where NASA's Curiosity rover will enter the atmosphere of Mars on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT).
Tracking Curiosity's Entry, Descent and Landing on Mars
This view of "Vera Rubin Ridge" from the ChemCam instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows sedimentary layers and fracture-filling mineral deposits. ChemCam's telescopic Remote Micro-Imager t...
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This view of "Vera Rubin Ridge" from the ChemCam instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows sedimentary layers and fracture-filling mineral deposits. ChemCam's telescopic Remote Micro-Imager took the 10 component images of this scene on July 3, 2017, from a distance of about 377 feet.
Micro-imager View: Layers in 'Vera Rubin Ridge,' Mars
This view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a site with a network of prominent mineral veins below a cap rock ridge on lower Mount Sharp.
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This March 27, 2015, view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a site with a network of prominent mineral veins below a cap rock ridge on lower Mount Sharp. At this "Garden City" site, the veins have been more resistant to erosion than the surrounding host rock.
Veiny 'Garden City' Site and Surroundings on Mount Sharp, Mars
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians process the backshell for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL).
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In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians process the backshell for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL).
Preparing the Backshell
A ceremonial ribbon is cut for the opening of new "Destination: Mars" experience at the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex in Florida.
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A ceremonial ribbon is cut for the opening of new "Destination: Mars" experience at the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex in Florida. From the left are Therrin Protze, chief operating officer of the visitor complex; center director Bob Cabana; Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin; Kudo Tsunoda of Microsoft; and Jeff Norris of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Ribbon Cutting
This image shows the front sides of three rovers viewed at an angle. On the right is the Mars Science Laboratory rover, which is the size of a small sport utility vehicle. Its 7-foot-long arm is ex...
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This image shows the front sides of three rovers viewed at an angle. On the right is the Mars Science Laboratory rover, which is the size of a small sport utility vehicle. Its 7-foot-long arm is extended in front of it, resting on the pavement. The camera 'eyes' at the top of its mast are turned downward at its smaller predecessors. In the middle, the tiny, wagon-size Sojourner rover has a deployable, alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer and single-color camera attached at its rear. On the left, the dune-buggy-size Mars Exploration Rover has its robotic arm extended in front of it, resting on the pavement. The panoramic camera 'eyes' at the top of its mast are turned upward, as if 'looking' at the bigger Mars Science Laboratory rover. All three rovers have six wheels, rocker-bogey suspension systems, rectangular bodies, solar panels, and antennas pointing upward from their spacecraft decks.
Third-Generation Mars Rover Dwarfs Predecessors
Engineers use Curiosity's body double to practice robotic arm placement.
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Robotic Arm Target Practice
Robotic Arm Target Practice
This mosaic of images from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a series of sedimentary deposits in the Glenelg area of Gale Crater, from a perspective in Yello...
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This mosaic of images from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a series of sedimentary deposits in the Glenelg area of Gale Crater, from a perspective in Yellowknife Bay looking toward west-northwest.
Erosion by Scarp Retreat in Gale Crater (Unannotated)
This graphic shows the flux of radiation detected by NASA's Mars Science Laboratory on the trip from Earth to Mars from December 2011 to July 2012.
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This graphic shows the flux of radiation detected by NASA's Mars Science Laboratory on the trip from Earth to Mars from December 2011 to July 2012.
Radiation Levels on the Way to Mars
In this image, a large, six-wheeled rover sits on a concrete floor in a laboratory against a light-blue background. The rover's 'legs,' or mobility system are a medium blue color and the large, cle...
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In this image, a large, six-wheeled rover sits on a concrete floor in a laboratory against a light-blue background. The rover's 'legs,' or mobility system are a medium blue color and the large, cleated wheels are shiny silver. On top of the mobility system is a silver-colored triangle that represents where the heart and brains of the rover will go when it is complete.
Mars Science Laboratory Project Changes Respond to Cost Increases, Keep Mars Program On Track
Miyamoto Crater
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Miyamoto Crater
Miyamoto Crater
This chart illustrates how NASA's Curiosity rover talks to Earth. While the rover can send direct messages, it communicates more efficiently with the help of spacecraft in orbit, including NASA's O...
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This chart illustrates how NASA's Curiosity rover talks to Earth. While the rover can send direct messages, it communicates more efficiently with the help of spacecraft in orbit, including NASA's Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the European Space Agency's Mars Express. NASA's Deep Space Network of antennae across the globe receive the transmissions, and send them to the Mars Science Laboratory mission operations center at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Curiosity Speaks and Orbiters Listen

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