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Curiosity Rover Fact Sheet

MSL fact sheet

November 01, 2011

Download a PDF of the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity Fact Sheet.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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This drop tower at JPL includes a bow launch system, which can hurl test articles 110 mph into the ground, re-creating the forces they would experience during a Mars landing.
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This drop tower at JPL includes a bow launch system, which can hurl test articles 110 mph into the ground, re-creating the forces they would experience during a Mars landing.
Bow Launch Drop Tower at JPL
JPL mechanical technician Eddie Castro uses a paint meter to measure the paint thickness on the Mars 2020 rover chassis.
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JPL mechanical technician Eddie Castro uses a paint meter to measure the paint thickness on the Mars 2020 rover chassis.
Measuring Up
This figure shows the location of CHIMRA on the turret of NASA's Curiosity rover, together with a cutaway view of the device.
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This figure shows the location of CHIMRA on the turret of NASA's Curiosity rover, together with a cutaway view of the device.
Preparing Samples on Mars
Engineers and technicians working on NASA's Mars 2020 mission prepare spacecraft components for acoustic testing in the Environmental Test Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, ...
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Engineers and technicians working on NASA's Mars 2020 mission prepare spacecraft components for acoustic testing in the Environmental Test Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Mars 2020 Is Wired for Sound
This is an artist's concept of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover parachute system.
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This is an artist's concept of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover parachute system.
Mars Science Laboratory Parachute, Artist's Concept
Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Qualification Testing
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Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Qualification Testing
Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Qualification Testing
This view southeastward from Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) shows terrain judged difficult for traversing between the rover and an outcrop in the middle distance where a pale rock unit meets a d...
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This May 10, 2015, view from Curiosity's Mastcam shows terrain judged difficult for traversing between the rover and an outcrop in the middle distance where a pale rock unit meets a darker rock unit above it. The rover team decided not to approach this outcrop and identified an alternative.
Unfavorable Terrain for Crossing Near 'Logan Pass' (Figure 1: Labeled)
Two images of the night sky were combined to show Earth and Venus as seen by the Mast Camera aboard NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on June 5, 2020, the 2,784th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Bot...
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Earth and Venus as seen by the Mast Camera aboard NASA's Curiosity Mars rover
Curiosity Rover Finds Earth and Venus in the Martian Sky
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used two cameras to create this selfie in front of Mont Mercou, a rock outcrop that stands 20 feet (6 meters) tall. The panorama is made up of 60 images from the MAHLI c...
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The panorama is made up of 60 images from the MAHLI camera on the rover’s robotic arm along with 11 images from the Mastcam on the mast, or "head," of the rover.
Curiosity's Selfie at Mont Mercou
This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows details of rock texture and color in an area where the rover's Dust Removal Tool (DRT) brushed away dust that ...
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This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows details of rock texture and color in an area where the rover's Dust Removal Tool (DRT) brushed away dust that was on the rock.
Zapped, Martian Rock (Annotated)
This May 5, 2014, image from the Navigation Camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows two holes at top center drilled into a sandstone target called "Windjana." The farther hole was created by th...
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Mars, sandstone, rock, drilling, windjana, waypoint, kimberley - This black and white image shows the two holes drilled into the sandstone Windjana.
Sample-Collection Drill Hole on Martian Sandstone Target 'Windjana'
This 3D view of the calibration target for the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) aboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity was assembled from two images taken by that camera during the 34th Martian day, or so...
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This 3D view of the calibration target for the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) aboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity was assembled from two images taken by that camera during the 34th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Sept. 9, 2012).
3D View of MAHLI Calibration Target
The foreground of this scene from the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows purple-hued rocks near the rover's late-2016 location. The middle distance includes future destinations for the ro...
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The foreground of this scene from the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows purple-hued rocks near the rover's late-2016 location. The middle distance includes future destinations for the rover. Variations in color of the rocks hint at the diversity of their composition on lower Mount Sharp.
Color Variations on Mount Sharp, Mars (White Balanced)
Members of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission listen to a voice message from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in the mission support area at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The message, which h...
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Interplanetary Voicemail
Interplanetary Voicemail
Two images from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity rover depicting the change in the color of light illuminating the Martian surface since a dust storm engulfed Gale Crater. The left ima...
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Two images from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity rover depicting the change in the color of light illuminating the Martian surface since a dust storm engulfed Gale Crater.
Duluth After Dust Storm
Members of NASA's Perseverance rover mission work remotely from home during the coronavirus outbreak.
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Members of NASA's Perseverance rover mission work remotely from home during the coronavirus outbreak
Portraits in Perseverance
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover spotted this dust devil with one of its Navigation Cameras around 11:35 a.m. local Mars time on Aug. 9, 2020 (the 2,847th Martian day, or sol, of the mission).
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Dust devil on Mars
Curiosity Spots a Dust Devil in the Hills
This full-resolution color image from NASA's Curiosity Rover shows the gravel-covered surface of Mars. It was taken by the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) several minutes after Curiosity touched down o...
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This full-resolution color image from NASA's Curiosity Rover shows the gravel-covered surface of Mars. It was taken by the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) several minutes after Curiosity touched down on Mars.
Gravel-Covered Martian Surface
This series of images shows the Martian moon Deimos as it crossed in front of the Sun, as seen by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on Sunday, March 17, 2019 (the 2,350th Martian day, or sol, of the miss...
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This series of images shows the Martian moon Deimos as it crossed in front of the Sun, as seen by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.
Curiosity Observes Deimos 'Eclipse': Sol 2350
The 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket seems surrounded by lightning masts as it arrives at the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida...
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The 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket seems surrounded by lightning masts as it arrives at the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Atop the rocket is NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), enclosed in its payload fairing.
Atlas V Arrives at Pad
This June 27, 2014, image from the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on the rover's landing-ellipse boundary, which is superimposed on the image.
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Curiosity-msl-landing-ellipse-edge-HiRise-This image shows Curiosity's landing area, rover tracks and a light blue line crosses showing the rover passing the landing-ellipse boundary.
Curiosity Mars Rover Reaching Edge of Its Landing Ellipse
The highest concentration of boron measured on Mars, as of late 2016, is in this mineral vein examined with the ChemCam instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover on Aug, 25, 2016. Orange bars indicate b...
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The highest concentration of boron measured on Mars, as of late 2016, is in this mineral vein examined with the ChemCam instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover on Aug, 25, 2016. Orange bars indicate boron content at points in the calcium sulfate vein. The context image is from Curiosity's Mastcam.
Boron in Calcium Sulfate Vein at 'Catabola,' Mars
This image covers a "fresh-looking" impact crater with a diameter of about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). 
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This image covers a "fresh-looking" impact crater
Many Gullies in a Fresh Impact Crater (3-D)

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