Desolate Landscape

At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, and the spacecraft's descent stage have been enclosed inside the...

The sensor head on the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer instrument was installed during testing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The instrument is part of the Curiosity rover, which will fly o...

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...

This artist's concept depicts the rover Curiosity, of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, as it uses its Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument to investigate the composition of a rock surface.

This pair of images taken a few minutes apart show how laser firing by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity removes dust from the surface of a rock.

This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the "Bradbury Landing" location where it landed in August 2012 (the start of the line in upper right) to a major waypoint called ...

This view southeastward from Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) shows terrain judged difficult for traversing between the rover and an outcrop in the middle distance where a pale rock unit meets a d...

NASA’s Curiosity used its Mastcam to capture this impact crater in a location nicknamed “Jau” on July 25, the 3,899th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This was one of dozens of impact craters C...

On Sol 32 (Sept. 7, 2012) the Curiosity rover used the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) located on its arm to obtain this self-portrait.

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover documented itself in the context of its work site, an area called "Rocknest Wind Drift," on the 84th Martian day, or sol, of its mission (Oct. 31, 2012).

This map shows the route on lower Mount Sharp that NASA's Curiosity followed in April and early May 2015, in the context of the surrounding terrain. Numbers along the route identify the sol, or Ma...

Clara Ma, winner of the Mars Science Laboratory naming contest.

This oblique view of Gale Crater shows the landing site and the mound of layered rocks that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory will investigate. The landing site is in the smooth area in front of the m...

This graphic portrays two hypotheses about how the element boron ended up in calcium sulfate veins found within mudstone layers of Mars' lower Mount Sharp.

This anaglyph version of Curiosity’s panorama taken at “Sequoia” can be viewed in 3D using red-blue glasses.

This image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows a sample of powdered rock extracted by the rover's drill from the "Confidence Hills" target.

This image, taken with the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, shows the transition between the "Murray Formation," in which layers are poorly expressed and difficult to tra...

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture this scene of a drill hole named “Edinburgh.” The images used to create the scene were taken on March 22 and 23, 2020, which...

Lozenge-shaped crystals are evident in this magnified view of a Martian rock target called "Mojave," taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) instrument on the arm of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover can be seen at the "Pahrump Hills" area of Gale Crater in this view from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orb...

This mosaic view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows textural characteristics and shapes of an outcrop called "Point Lake."

NASA's Curiosity finds that the Red Planet doesn't have the same atmosphere it used to.

With NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft sealed inside its payload fairing, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket stands ready for launch at Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canavera...

With the addition of four high-resolution Navigation Camera, or Navcam, images, taken on Aug. 18 (Sol 12), Curiosity's 360-degree landing-site panorama now includes the highest point on Mount Sharp...

This overhead view shows evidence of a successful first test drive for NASA's Curiosity rover.