Goal 3: Characterize the geology of Mars

This image shows ChemCam's close-up of the rock named "Rapitan" with the analysis of its elemental composition.

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."

The total distance driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity passed the one-mile mark a few days before the first anniversary of the rover's landing on Mars.

This exposure of finely laminated bedrock on Mars includes tiny crystal-shaped bumps, plus mineral veins with both bright and dark material. This rock target, called "Jura," was imaged by the MAHLI...

This stereo view from the Curiosity Mars rover's Navcam shows a 360-degree panorama around the site where the rover spent its 1,000th Martian day, or sol, on Mars. The image appears three-dimension...

This panorama captured by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows a location nicknamed “Pontours” where scientists spotted preserved, ancient mud cracks believed to have formed during long cycles of wet ...

The Mars Descent Imager for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory took this image in October 2008.

Five decades of successful NASA missions to the Red Planet, 1965-2015.

The left eye of the two-camera Mast Camera (Mastcam) instrument on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity took the images combined into this mosaic of the rover's upper deck.

Standing atop a payload transporter, the Atlas V rocket payload fairing containing NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft rolls out of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy S...

This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the patch of rock cleaned by the first use of the rover's Dust Removal Tool (DRT).

Images taken before and after NASA's Curiosity rover shot its laser 50 times are shown here.

Bobak Ferdowsi, Curiosity flight director, shares a special message with students on building robots.

This full-resolution self-portrait shows the deck of NASA's Curiosity rover from the rover's Navigation cameras.

Engineers work on Opportunity (in its cruise configuration) in a cleanroom at Kennedy Space Center. A very important part of planetary protection is keeping contaminants from humans from riding abo...

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...

How samples are delivered and then tested in the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite on the Mars Curiosity rover. (No audio)

This movie from NASA's Curiosity rover shows all the "thumbnail" (low-resolution) frames acquired by the Mars Descent Imager between the jettison of the heat shield and touchdown. The video, obtain...

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture this panorama while driving toward the center of this scene, an area that forms the narrow “Paraitepuy Pass” on Aug. 14, the...

The Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this mosaic as it explored the "clay-bearing unit" on Feb. 3, 2019 (Sol 2309).

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).

This full-resolution image shows one of the first views from NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT (early morning hours Aug. 6 EDT).

Download a PDF of the Mars Science Laboratory Launch Press Kit.

A chapter of the layered geological history of Mars is laid bare in this postcard from NASA's Curiosity rover. The image shows the base of Mount Sharp, the rover's eventual science destination.

Measurements with the MSL Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover during the flight to Mars and now on the surface of Mars enable an estimate of the radiation astronauts ...