Mars Exploration Rover team members with rover

The aeroshell for Mars Exploration Rover 2 rests on end after rotation in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility.

Gazing across the landscape of the "Columbia Hills" in Gusev Crater on Mars, scientists saw hints of tilted rock layers across the area traversed by the Spirit rover.

Born together, the Spirit and Opportunity twin rovers followed divergent paths after they landed on opposite sides of Mars. Opportunity’s journey was marked by good fortune, while Spirit’s was trou...

This image shows the Spirit rover's landing site, the Columbia Memorial Station, at Gusev Crater, Mars.

The "Block Island" meteorite, reproduced at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The rock abrasion tool on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit ground two holes in a relatively soft rock called "Wooly Patch" near the base of the "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev Crater on Mars.

As Opportunity continued to traverse from "Erebus Crater" toward "Victoria Crater," the rover navigated along exposures of bedrock between large, wind-blown ripples.

This is the 3-D anaglyph showing a microscopic image taken of soil featuring round, blueberry-shaped rock formations on the crater floor at Meridiani Planum, Mars. This image was taken on the 13th ...

Landing a spacecraft on Mars is one of the trickiest things we do. This 60-second video explains how it's done, and the three landing systems we use at the Red Planet.

Even after the landers and airbags safely bounce to a complete stop on Mars, the challenges of getting to Mars continue. It will take each rover a minimum of nine days to emerge from its lander coc...

A forward-looking view of a portion of the "Columbia Hills" captured by Spirit shows the expansive hills ahead. It features "Husband Hill" to the left, "West Spur" in the center, and a talus (rock...

The nose cone of the rocket separates during the launch phase and the Mars Exploration Rover is sent on a seven-month journey to Mars.

This stereo view was assembled from images taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the rover's 337th martian day, or sol (Dec. 14, 2004). Spirit's position, ca...

This is a close-up look at a rock grind by made with Spirit 's robotic arm on a rock target dubbed "Mazatzal."

Find out how the Mars Exploration Rover team traversed the Red Planet, examined the diverse environment and transformed our understanding of Mars.

This image shows NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity perched on the edge of "Concepción" crater in Meridiani Planum, Mars.

This is the Spirit panoramic camera's "Lookout" panorama, acquired on the rover's 410th to 413th martian days, or sols (Feb. 27 to Mar. 2, 2005).

This series of images shows simulated views of a darkening Martian sky blotting out the Sun from NASA’s Opportunity rover’s point of view, with the right side simulating Opportunity’s current view ...

A dust storm continues to envelop the Red Planet and Curiosity’s labs are back in action.

This image taken at Meridiani Planum, Mars, by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer (circular device in center), located on its i...

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recorded this view of the summit of "Cape Tribulation," on the western rim of Endeavour Crater on the day before the rover drove to the top.

This stereo anaglyph looking toward the northeast across "Endurance Crater" in Mars' Meridiani Planum region was assembled from frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rove...

The component images for this stereo, 360-degree panorama were taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity after the rover drove about 97 feet (29.5 meters) during t...

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity observed this outcrop on the "Murray Ridge" portion of the rim of Endeavour Crater as the rover approached the 10th anniversary of its landing on Mars.

This stereo view from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows contrasting textures and tones of "Hinners Point," at the northern edge of "Marathon Valley," and brighter outcrop on the valle...