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CURIOSITY IMAGES

Ashwin Vasavada

Ashwin Vasavada of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, became the project scientist for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project in January 2015.

January 05, 2015

Ashwin Vasavada of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, became the project scientist for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project in January 2015. Here he is with a full-scale model of the project's Mars rover, Curiosity, at JPL. Curiosity landed in Mars' Gale Crater in August 2012.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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A dust storm continues to envelop the Red Planet and Curiosity’s labs are back in action.
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A dust storm continues to envelop the Red Planet and Curiosity’s labs are back in action.
Mars Report: July 2018
This oblique, southward-looking view of Gale crater shows the landing site and the mound of layered rocks that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory will investigate.
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This oblique, southward-looking view of Gale crater shows the landing site and the mound of layered rocks that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory will investigate.
Context of Curiosity Landing Site in Gale Crater, with Ellipse
This view from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the arm of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is a close-up of a two-tone mineral vein at a site called "Garden City" on lower Mount Sharp.
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This view from the Mars Hand Lens Imager on the arm of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is a close-up of a two-tone mineral vein at a site called "Garden City" on lower Mount Sharp. It was taken during night, illuminated by LEDs, on March 25, 2015.
Night Close-up of Mineral Veins at 'Garden City,' Mars
This animation depicts the location of the ChemCam instrument at the top of the mast on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity and the field of view of the instrument's camera, called the Remote Micro-Imager....
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ChemCam Field of View
ChemCam Field of View
This global map of Mars was acquired on Aug. 4, 2012, by the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
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This global map of Mars was acquired on Aug. 4, 2012, by the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Mars Weather Map, Aug. 4
On "Vera Rubin Ridge," to determine whether dust coatings are hiding rocks' hematite content, the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this Sept. 17, 2017, image of a rock surface that had b...
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On "Vera Rubin Ridge," to determine whether dust coatings are hiding rocks' hematite content, the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this Sept. 17, 2017, image of a rock surface that had been brushed with the rover's Dust Removal Tool. The purplish tint may indicate fine-grained hematite.
Curiosity Checks Under the Dust on a Martian Rock
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
This image from the Navigation Camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a sandstone slab on which the rover team has selected a target, "Windjana," for close-up examination.
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This image from the Navigation Camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a sandstone slab on which the rover team has selected a target, "Windjana," for close-up examination.
Curiosity Mars Rover Beside Sandstone Target 'Windjana'
This view shows the patch of veined, flat-lying rock selected as the first drilling site for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.
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This view shows the patch of veined, flat-lying rock selected as the first drilling site for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.
'John Klein' Site Selected for Curiosity's Drill Debut
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its Mast Camera (Mastcam) to take the images combined into this mosaic of the drill area, called "John Klein."
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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its Mast Camera (Mastcam) to take the images combined into this mosaic of the drill area, called "John Klein."
Investigating Curiosity's Drill Area (Raw-Colored)
NASA's Curiosity rover finds calcium deposits on Mars similar to those seen on Earth when water circulates in cracks and rock fractures.
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Curiosity Finds Calcium-Rich Deposits
Curiosity Finds Calcium-Rich Deposits
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 (Raw Colors - Unannotated)
This animation of NASA's Curiosity rover shows the complicated suite of operations involved in conducting the rover's first rock sample drilling on Mars and transferring the sample to the rover's s...
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Drilling into Mars
Drilling into Mars
This nearly global mosaic of observations made by the Mars Color Imager on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Nov. 18, 2012, shows a dust storm in Mars' southern hemisphere.
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This nearly global mosaic of observations made by the Mars Color Imager on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Nov. 18, 2012, shows a dust storm in Mars' southern hemisphere.
Martian Dust Storm, Nov. 18, 2012
This is the highest-resolution view that the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity acquired of the top of a rock called "Bathurst Inlet."
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This is the highest-resolution view that the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity acquired of the top of a rock called "Bathurst Inlet."
'Bathurst Inlet' Rock on Curiosity's Sol 54, Close-Up View
This scene was captured by Curiosity on Sept. 9, 2015, when NASA’s Mars rover was many miles from its current location.
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This scene of "Paraitepuy Pass" was captured by Curiosity on Sept. 9, 2015, when NASA’s Mars rover was many miles from its current location.
'Paraitepuy Pass' From a Distance
NASA and Microsoft have teamed up to create "Destination: Mars," a guided tour of Mars using the same Hololens technology that helps scientists plan the Curiosity rover's activities.
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Mixed-Reality Tech Brings Mars to Earth
Mixed-Reality Tech Brings Mars to Earth
The heat shield for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory is the largest ever built for a planetary mission.
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The heat shield for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory is the largest ever built for a planetary mission.
Biggest-Ever Heat Shield Prepared for Mars Spacecraft
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
This graph shows a spectrum recorded by the Chemistry and Camera instrument (ChemCam) in NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.
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This graph shows a spectrum recorded by the Chemistry and Camera instrument (ChemCam) in NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.
ChemCam Spectrum from Martian Rock Target 'Ithaca'
This is a still from an interactive web feature that guides you through the entry, descent and landing of NASA's Curiosity rover.
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Guided Tour of Curiosity's Martian Landing
Guided Tour of Curiosity's Martian Landing
This series of images shows the shadow of Phobos as it sweeps over NASA's Curiosity Mars rover and darkens the sunlight on Monday, March 25, 2019 (Sol 2358).
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This series of images shows the shadow of Phobos as it sweeps over NASA's Curiosity Mars rover and darkens the sunlight on Monday, March 25, 2019 (Sol 2358).
Curiosity Observes Sunset Eclipse: Sol 2358
This photograph of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, was taken during mobility testing on June 3, 2011. The location is inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propul...
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This photograph of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, was taken during mobility testing on June 3, 2011. The location is inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Mars Rover Curiosity with Wheel on Ramp
Before NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars, the strata exposed in Mount Sharp were compared to those in the Grand Canyon of the western United States, shown here.
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Before NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars, the strata exposed in Mount Sharp were compared to those in the Grand Canyon of the western United States, shown here.
Grand Canyon Similar to Mount Sharp
This view of a Martian rock target called "Harrison" merges images from two cameras on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover to provide both color and microscopic detail.
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This view of a Martian rock target called "Harrison" merges images from two cameras on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover to provide both color and microscopic detail.
Martian Rock 'Harrison' in Color, Showing Crystals

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