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Diagram of Curiosity Rover Instruments

This diagram shows the location of each of the Curiosity Rover's ten science instruments.

May 18, 2011

This diagram shows the location of each of the Curiosity Rover's ten science instruments. Curiosity launched in November 2011 and landed in Gale Crater on Mars in August, 2013.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Annular Eclipse of the Sun by Phobos, as Seen by Curiosity
This computer-generated view based on multiple orbital observations shows Mars' Gale crater as if seen from an aircraft northwest of the crater.
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Oblique view of Gale Crater from the Northwest
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This set of images shows the movement of the rear right wheel of NASA's Curiosity as rover drivers turned the wheels in place at the landing site on Mars.
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Wiggle in the Gravel
The Laser-Induced Remote Sensing for Chemistry and Micro-Imaging instrument will identify atomic elements in martian rocks. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/J.-L. Lacour, CEA
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This picture shows a flat, rock-strewn surface with cliffs in the distance and a six-wheeled robotic vehicle in the foreground. A short distance to the right of the vehicle is a layered cliff. An instrument attached to the mast of the vehicle is shooting a beam of light at the surface of the cliff.
Laser-Induced Remote Sensing
This plot of data from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the variety of gases that were released from sand grains upon heating in the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument, or SAM
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This plot of data from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the variety of gases that were released from sand grains upon heating in the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument, or SAM
Heating Martian Sand Grains
The low ridge that appears as a dark band below the horizon in the center of this scene is a Martian outcrop called "Cooperstown," a possible site for contact inspection with tools on the robotic a...
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Curiosity's View of "Cooperstown" Outcrop on Route to Mount Sharp
Close-up of Curiosity's Landing Region
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Close-up of Curiosity's Landing Region
Close-up of Curiosity's Landing Region
This map shows all the quadrant themes for NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover, which is currently in the Roraima quadrant seen at the bottom. The red oval indicates the landing ellipse where the rover was...
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This map shows all the quadrant themes for NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover, which is currently in the Roraima quadrant seen at the bottom. The red oval indicates the landing ellipse where the rover was targeted to touch down in 2012. The yellow-tinted quadrants are areas the rover has driven through since then.
Curiosity's Quadrant Themes
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, largest of the 10 science instruments for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, will examine samples of Martian rocks, soil and atmosphere for inform...
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The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, largest of the 10 science instruments for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, will examine samples of Martian rocks, soil and atmosphere for information about chemicals that are important to life and other chemical indicators about past and present environments.
Schematic of Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument
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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity cut a wheel scuff mark into a wind-formed ripple at the "Rocknest" site to give researchers a better opportunity to examine the particle-size distribution of the material forming the ripple.
Wheel Scuff Mark at 'Rocknest'
Half of the Atlas V payload fairing for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, encased in plastic, is lifted from its transportation pallet in the airlock of the Payload Hazardous Servicing ...
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Half of the Atlas V payload fairing for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, encased in plastic, is lifted from its transportation pallet in the airlock of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Getting Payload Fairing Ready
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Dropping in on Mars in High-Res
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The dark, smooth-surfaced rock at the center of this Oct. 30, 2016, image from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover was examined with laser pulses and confirmed to be an iron-ni...
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The dark, smooth-surfaced rock at the center of this Oct. 30, 2016, image from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover was examined with laser pulses and confirmed to be an iron-nickel meteorite. It is about the size of a golf ball.
Curiosity Rover Finds and Examines a Meteorite on Mars
This graph compares the elemental composition of typical soils at three landing regions on Mars.
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Inspecting Soils Across Mars
These schematic drawings show a top view and a cutaway view of a section of the drill on NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars.
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These schematic drawings show a top view and a cutaway view of a section of the drill on NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars.
Views of Curiosity's Drill
After four years on Mars, Curiosity rover and her operations team are now seasoned explorers, anxious to climb to greater heights on Mount Sharp.
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Curiosity Rover Report: Four Years on Mars
Curiosity Rover Report: Four Years on Mars
At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity, will be integrated with a rocket-powered desce...
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At the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity, will be integrated with a rocket-powered descent stage (shown here to the left of the rover).
Curiosity Awaits Descent Stage
Stitched together from 116 images, this view captured by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the path it will take in the summer of 2020 as it drives toward the next region it will be investigating, ...
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This view captured by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the path it will take in the summer of 2020 as it drives toward the next region it will be investigating, the "sulfate-bearing unit."
Curiosity's Path to the 'Sulfate-Bearing Unit'
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) is a powerful set of three instruments onboard the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover that work together to investigate the chemistry of the Martian sur...
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The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) is a powerful set of three instruments onboard the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover that work together to investigate the chemistry of the Martian surface and atmosphere within Gale Crater.
SAM Instrument Suite, at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity detects even very small amounts of water in the ground beneath the rover, primarily water bound into the crystal struc...
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The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity detects even very small amounts of water in the ground beneath the rover, primarily water bound into the crystal structure of hydrated minerals.
Two Types of Modeling of Subsurface Water
Thick stacks of clay minerals indicate chemical alteration of thick stacks of rock by interaction with liquid water on ancient Mars.
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Thick stacks of clay minerals indicate chemical alteration of thick stacks of rock by interaction with liquid water on ancient Mars.
Chemical Alteration by Water, Mawrth Vallis
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, largest of the 10 science instruments for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, will examine samples of Martian rocks, soil and atmosphere for inform...
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The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, largest of the 10 science instruments for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, will examine samples of Martian rocks, soil and atmosphere for information about chemicals that are important to life and other chemical indicators about past and present environments.
Installing SAM Instrument into Curiosity Mars Rover
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on its mast to record this westward look on the 347th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (July 28, 2013).
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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on its mast to record this westward look on the 347th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (July 28, 2013).
Westward View from Curiosity on Sol 347
During final stacking of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, the heat shield is positioned for integration with the rest of the spacecraft in this photograph from inside the Payload Hazardou...
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During final stacking of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, the heat shield is positioned for integration with the rest of the spacecraft in this photograph from inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Mars Science Laboratory Heat Shield Integration for Flight

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