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CURIOSITY IMAGES

Waiting for News of Curiosity's Landing

Scientists listen intently for status updates prior to Curiosity's landing.

August 05, 2012

Scientists listen intently for status updates prior to Curiosity's landing.

Credits

NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Happy Birthday Curiosity!
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A separate electronics box will allow the Mastcam to process images independently of the main rover computer system. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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The image shows a flat rectangular box filled with capacitors, resistors, memory chips, and other electronic parts.
Mastcam Electronics
This simulation shows the first test drive of NASA's Curiosity rover. This tool, called the Rover Sequencing and Visualization Program (RSVP) helps engineers plan the rover's drives, modeling pebbl...
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Planning Curiosity's First Test Drive
Planning Curiosity's First Test Drive
One priority target for a closer look by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity before the rover departs the "Glenelg" area east of its landing site is the pitted outcrop called "Point Lake," in the upper hal...
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'Point Lake' Outcrop in Gale Crater, Raw Color
'Point Lake' Outcrop in Gale Crater, Raw Color
Download a zip file of Curiosity’s Landing Site: Topographic Model of Gale Crater.
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Curiosity’s Landing Site: Topographic Model of Gale Crater
Curiosity's Landing Site: Topographic Model of Gale Crater
Under the watchful eyes of technicians at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an overhead crane lowers a rocket-powered descent stage over NASA's Mar...
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Under the watchful eyes of technicians at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an overhead crane lowers a rocket-powered descent stage over NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity, for integration.
Descent Stage Meets Rover!
This image shows the wall of a scuffmark NASA's Curiosity made in a windblown ripple of Martian sand with its wheel.
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This image shows the wall of a scuffmark NASA's Curiosity made in a windblown ripple of Martian sand with its wheel.
High-Resolution View of Cross-Section Through a Mars Ripple
The sparks that appear on the baseball-sized rock result from the laser of the ChemCam instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover hitting the rock. (No audio)
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Flash from Curiosity Rover's Laser Hitting a Martian Rock
Flash from Curiosity Rover's Laser Hitting a Martian Rock
ASA's Curiosity Mars rover used the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on its mast to catch this look-back eastward at wheel tracks from driving through and past "Dingo Gap" inside Gale Crater.
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ASA's Curiosity Mars rover used the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on its mast to catch this look-back eastward at wheel tracks from driving through and past "Dingo Gap" inside Gale Crater.
Curiosity Making Headway West of 'Dingo Gap'
Filled with briny lakes, the Quisquiro salt flat in South America's Altiplano represents the kind of landscape that scientists think may have existed in Gale Crater, which NASA's Curiosity rover is...
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Filled with briny lakes, the Quisquiro salt flat in South America's Altiplano represents the kind of landscape that scientists think may have existed in Gale Crater, which NASA's Curiosity rover is exploring.
South America's Altiplano Looks Like Mars
This pair of images from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity rover illustrates how special filters are used to scout terrain ahead for variations in the local bedrock.
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This pair of images from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity rover illustrates how special filters are used to scout terrain ahead for variations in the local bedrock.
Mastcam Special Filters Help Locate Variations Ahead
Unlike previous rovers sent to Mars, Curiosity is a robot chemist seeking evidence of past habitability on Mars.
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The Science of Curiosity: Seeking Signs of Past Mars Habitability
The Science of Curiosity: Seeking Signs of Past Mars Habitability
How do you prepare to land a one-ton rover lightly on the surface of Mars? Practice!
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Landing Practice
Landing Practice
A rock fragment dubbed "Lamoose" is shown in this picture taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Curiosity rover.
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A rock fragment dubbed "Lamoose" is shown in this picture taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Curiosity rover.
High-Silica 'Lamoose' Rock
This sequence of images from the Front Hazard-Avoidance Camera on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the rover drilling into rock target "Cumberland." The drilling was performed during the 279th Ma...
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This is a sequence of images from the Front Hazard-Avoidance Camera on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity that shows the rover drilling into rock target "Cumberland."
Curiosity Mars Rover Drilling Into Its Second Rock
This series of images shows the shadow of Phobos as it sweeps over NASA's Curiosity Mars rover and darkens the sunlight on Monday, March 25, 2019 (Sol 2358).
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This series of images shows the shadow of Phobos as it sweeps over NASA's Curiosity Mars rover and darkens the sunlight on Monday, March 25, 2019 (Sol 2358).
Curiosity Observes Sunset Eclipse: Sol 2358
Download a PDF of the Curiosity Sticker Template.
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Curiosity Sticker Template
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The left Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity took this image of Curiosity's sample-processing and delivery tool just after the tool delivered a portion of powdered rock into the ro...
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The left Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity took this image of Curiosity's sample-processing and delivery tool just after the tool delivered a portion of powdered rock into the rover's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument.
Check-up Image After Delivering Martian Rock Powder
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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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.
Wiggle in the Gravel
In this image, about a dozen people watch the large Scarecrow rover drive over a grayish orange boulder in an outdoor sandbox. Scarecrow is about the size of a small compact car. Its 'legs,' (mobil...
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In this image, about a dozen people watch the large Scarecrow rover drive over a grayish orange boulder in an outdoor sandbox. Scarecrow is about the size of a small compact car. Its 'legs,' (mobility system) are a vibrant blue color and its large wheels are silver and covered in chevron-like cleats. Members of the media hold cameras.
Shutterbugs Shoot 'Scarecrow'
John Grotzinger, Curiosity's principal investigator, narrates an aerial tour of the rover's past, present and future traverses on the Red Planet.
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Mars Rover Teams Dub Sites In Memory of Bruce Murray
Mars Rover Teams Dub Sites In Memory of Bruce Murray
Satellite news trucks crowd the parking lots at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., on Aug. 5, 2012, in preparation for the Curiosity rover’s landing on Mars.
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Satellite news trucks crowd the parking lots at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., on Aug. 5, 2012, in preparation for the Curiosity rover's landing on Mars.
Media Trucks Descend on JPL
This image shows an example of a thin-laminated, evenly stratified rock type that occurs in the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp on Mars. The Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rove...
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This image shows an example of a thin-laminated, evenly stratified rock type that occurs in the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp on Mars. The Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover acquired this view on Oct. 28, 2014. This type of rock can form under a lake.
Thin-Laminated Rock in 'Pahrump Hills' Outcrop
The sequence of seven images in this animation shows sunspots as viewed by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from June 27 to July 8, 2015. From Mars, the rover was in position to see the opposite side of...
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The sequence of seven images in this animation shows sunspots as viewed by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from June 27 to July 8, 2015. From Mars, the rover was in position to see the opposite side of the sun from the side facing Earth during this period. North is up.
Tracking Sunspots from Mars, Summer 2015
The sequence of six images in this animation shows sunspots as viewed by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from April 4 to April 15, 2015. From Mars, the rover was in position to see the opposite side of...
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The sequence of six images in this animation shows sunspots as viewed by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from April 4 to April 15, 2015. From Mars, the rover was in position to see the opposite side of the sun from the side facing Earth during this period. North is up.
Tracking Sunspots from Mars, April 2015

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