Mars Exploration Rover

In late November 2005 while descending "Husband Hill," Spirit took the most detailed panorama so far of the "Inner Basin," one of the rover's target destination.

On the horizon in the right half of this panoramic view is an area of Mars informally named "Matijevic Hill," in commemoration of an influential rover-team leader.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, an overhead crane lowers the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) aeroshell toward a rotation stand.

More than 1.5 years into their exploration of Mars, both of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers continue to send a cornucopia of images to Earth.

This photo shows fifteen of the women engineers and scientists who work on the Mars Exploration Rover. They are standing behind or kneeling beside a precise replica of the rover in the mission cont...

This Martian scene shows contrasting textures and colors of "Hinners Point," at the northern edge of "Marathon Valley," and swirling reddish zones on the valley floor to the left.

This is a zoomed in view on Spirit 's "Lookout" panorama on the drive up to the summit "Husband Hills."

Kris Capraro adds the finishing touches of realistic color to the model meteorite.

This stereo view from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows "Lunokhod 2 Crater," which lies south of "Solander Point" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. Lunokhod 2 Crater is approximate...

This full-circle panorama shows the terrain around the NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during the 3,071st Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Sept. 13, 2012).

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured this view after beginning to ascend the northwestern slope of "Solander Point" on the western rim of Endeavour Crater.

This image shows segments of the western rim of Mars' Endeavour Crater. NASA's Mars rover Opportunity has explored parts of the rim since 2011. The view covers an area about 9 miles wide. It was ta...

Opportunity used its panoramic camera to record this eastward horizon view on the 2,407th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (October 31, 2010).

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians remove one of the circuit boards on the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-2).

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recorded this stereo view of a crater informally named "Freedom 7" shortly before the 50th anniversary of the first American in space: astronaut Alan Shepa...

Spirit discovered this remarkable patch of bright, loose soil while driving toward "Home Plate" along the floor of the basin south of "Husband Hill" in Gusev Crater.

Spirit acquired this false-color image after using the rock abrasion tool to brush the surfaces of rock targets informally named "Stars" (left) and "Crawfords" (right). Small streaks of dust extend...

This full-circle, stereo panorama shows the terrain around the NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during the 3,071st Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Sept. 13, 2012).

On Earth, a fast runner takes a few hours to complete a marathon. On Mars, it's taken 11 years. NASA's Opportunity rover crossed that finish line in 2015.

This view taken by Spirit show's the "Columbia Hills" up ahead.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has been on the western rim of Endeavour Crater in Meridiani Planum for about two years.

This scene from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows "Lunokhod 2 Crater," which lies south of "Solander Point" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater.

A "Martian mechanic" checks beneath the completely deployed Rover 1 lander. Atop the lander is Rover 1 with its wheels and solar arrays in the stowed position.

This cylindrical-projection view was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 122 (May 7, 2004).

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers prepare to lift the Mars Exploration Rover-1 (MER-B) onto a spin table during preflight processing of the spacecraft.