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Nili Fossae Trough
February 15, 2009
Nili Fossae Trough
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NASA/JPL-Caltech
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This graphic shows the geologic cross-section through lower Mount Sharp on Mars.
Geologic Cross-Section
Processes in Mars' surface material can explain why particular xenon (Xe) and krypton (Kr) isotopes are more abundant in the Martian atmosphere than expected, as measured by NASA's Curiosity rover....
Isotopic Clues to Mars' Crust-Atmosphere Interactions
A panorama combining images from both cameras of the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover shows diverse geological textures on Mount Sharp. Three years after landing on Mars, the mission is inves...
Curiosity Rover's View of Alluring Martian Geology Ahead
On the second anniversary of NASA Curiosity on Mars, the rover navigates a sandy valley on its way to Mount Sharp
A Softer Trek to Mount Sharp
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a technician inspects beneath NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission aeroshell, (containing the compact ...
Looking Under the Hood
This color full-resolution image showing the heat shield of NASA's Curiosity rover was obtained during descent to the surface of Mars on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT).
Curiosity's Heat Shield in Detail
This scene shows NASA's Curiosity Mars rover at a location called "Windjana," where the rover found rocks containing manganese-oxide minerals, which require abundant water and strongly oxidizing co...
NASA's Curiosity at Site of Clues About Ancient Oxygen
The rock "Ithaca" shown here, with a rougher lower texture and smoother texture on top, appears to be a piece of the local sedimentary bedrock protruding from the surrounding soil in Gale Crater.
Target Rock 'Ithaca' in Gale Crater, Mars
This image from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows inclined layering known as cross-bedding in an outcrop called "Shaler" on a scale of a few tenths of meters, or decime...
'Shaler' Unit's Evidence of Stream Flow (Unannotated)
This map shows the path on Mars of NASA's Curiosity rover toward Glenelg, an area where three terrains of scientific interest converge.
Curiosity's Roadside Discoveries
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover imaged these drifting clouds on May 17, 2019, the 2,410th Martian day, or sol, of the mission, using its Navigation Cameras (Navcams).
Curiosity's Three-Frame Mosaic of Clouds
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Navigation Camera (Navcam) to capture this view partway back down a slope it climbed toward "Marias Pass" on lower Mount Sharp. The image was taken May 22, 2015...
Area with Silica-Rich Target Near 'Marias Pass' on Mars
The network of cracks in this Martian rock slab called "Old Soaker" may have formed from the drying of a mud layer more than 3 billion years ago.
"Old Soaker"
This self-portrait of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (...
Updated Curiosity Self-Portrait at 'John Klein'
One type of feature of scientific interest on the mountain inside Gale crater is exposure of cemented fractures, evidence that groundwater once reached to at least that height of the mountain.
Cemented Fractures in Mountain Inside Gale Crater on Mars
This image taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the texture of the patch of flat-lying bedrock called "Cumberland," which was the mission's second target ...
Concretions at 'Cumberland'
This image from NASA's Mars Curiosity rover shows the "Amargosa Valley," on the slopes leading up to Mount Sharp on Mars.
Curiosity Marches Onward and Upward
This image from the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows an impact scar on Mars made by pieces of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft that the spacecraft shed just before entering the Mar...
Impact Scars from MSL Cruise Stage and Two Balance Weights (Figure 1)
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity extended its robotic arm on Aug. 20, 2012, for the first time on Mars and used its Navigation Camera (Navcam) to capture this view of the extended arm.
Curiosity Extends Arm for First Time on Mars
With NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft sealed inside its payload fairing, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rides a tall pillar of smoke and flames as it soars over Space Laun...
Atlas V In The Sky
In this image, the Mars Science Laboratory Project Science Group, consisting of 11 men and 1 woman, are climbing up a dusty trail in New Mexico. Wearing casual hiking clothes and hats, they are cli...
Mars Science Laboratory's Lead Scientists Hike up a Hill in New Mexico
In this image from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover looking up the ramp at the northeastern end of "Hidden Valley," a pale outcrop including drilling target "Bonanza King" is at the center of the scene.
Looking Up the Ramp Holding 'Bonanza King' on Mars
This illustration portrays some of the reasons why finding organic chemicals on Mars is challenging. Whatever organic chemicals may be produced on Mars or delivered to Mars face several possible mo...
Mars Has Ways to Make Organics Hard to Find
This evenly layered rock photographed by the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover on Aug. 7, 2014, shows a pattern typical of a lake-floor sedimentary deposit not far from where flo...
Sedimentary Signs of a Martian Lakebed
This panorama from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover was taken on Dec. 19 (Sol 2265). The rover's last drill location on Vera Rubin Ridge is visible, as well as the clay regi...
Curiosity's 360 Panorama of 'Rock Hall'
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Collecting samples as it explores an ancient and now-dry river channel is but one goal the six-wheeled geologist will pursue during its second Red Planet exploration.
NASA's Perseverance Rover Arrives at Delta for New Science Campaign
A new study based on recordings made by the rover finds that the speed of sound is slower on the Red Planet than on Earth and that, mostly, a deep silence prevails.
What Sounds Captured by NASA's Perseverance Rover Reveal About Mars
Meet the project manager of the first rocket to launch from the surface of another planet, the Mars Ascent Vehicle.
NASA's Angie Jackman Works to Develop Rocket That Will Bring Mars Samples to Earth
The award brings NASA a step closer to the first robotic round trip to bring samples safely to Earth through the Mars Sample Return Program.
NASA Selects Developer for Rocket to Retrieve First Samples From Mars
Caltech researchers used the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to determine that surface water left salt minerals behind as recently as 2 billion years ago.
NASA's MRO Finds Water Flowed on Mars Longer Than Previously Thought
The findings by rover scientists highlight the diversity of samples geologists and future scientists associated with the agency’s Mars Sample Return program will have to study.
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