Replicating Martian Dunes

This image shows the calibration target for the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover.

The team operating NASA's Curiosity Mars rover uses the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on the rover's arm to check the condition of the wheels at routine intervals.

Curiosity science team member Sanjeev Gupta explains how rounded pebbles spotted by the rover are convincing evidence of an ancient streambed on Mars.

Stitched together from 28 images, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this view from "Greenheugh Pediment" on April 9, 2020, the 2,729th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. In the foreground is t...

A "scarecrow" rover at NASA's JPL drives over a sensor while testing a new driving algorithm. Engineers created the algorithm to reduce wheel wear on the Mars Curiosity rover.

The mesa in the center of this scene from the "Murray Buttes" area on Mars is longer than a football field. The panorama combines images taken by the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on Aug. ...

This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the "Bradbury Landing" location where it landed in August 2012 (the start of the line in upper right) to a major waypoint called ...

This image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows a sample of powdered rock extracted by the rover's drill from the "Confidence Hills" target.

The right Mast Camera (Mastcam) of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover provided this view of the lower stratigraphy at "Yellowknife Bay" inside Gale Crater on Mars.

Goddard scientist Jennifer Eigenbrode injected a chemical into a rock sample and then heated the test tube to determine whether the sample-preparation method preserved the sample's molecular struct...

Mercury passed in front of the sun on June 3, 2014, as viewed from Mars. The Mast Camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recorded the event. (No audio)

This mosaic image shows part of the left side of NASA's Curiosity rover and two blast marks from the descent stage's rocket engines.

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Navigation Camera (Navcam) to capture this scene toward the west just after completing a drive that took the mission's total driving distance on Mars past 10 ki...

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...

On "Vera Rubin Ridge," to determine whether dust coatings are hiding rocks' hematite content, the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this Sept. 17, 2017, image of a rock surface that had b...

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...

The rippled surface of the first Martian sand dune ever studied up close fills this Nov. 27, 2015, view of "High Dune" from the Mast Camera on NASA's Curiosity rover. This site is part of the "Bagn...

This graphic shows the ongoing contributions of NASA’s rovers and orbiters during a Martian dust storm that began on May 30, 2018.

The low ridge that appears as a dark band below the horizon in the center of this scene is a Martian outcrop called "Cooperstown," a possible site for contact inspection with tools on the robotic a...

In this image, two technicians from the Mars Science Laboratory team prepare the rover's mobility system for instrumentation tests. They are both wearing white coats and gloves as they each work on...

This view of "Vera Rubin Ridge" from the ChemCam instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows sedimentary layers and fracture-filling mineral deposits. ChemCam's telescopic Remote Micro-Imager t...

Teachers at the Educator Workshop listen attentively to a demonstration of Microsoft’s Kodu Mars Experience, a software program that allows students to design and create their own computer games.

Engineers test the first-of-its-kind landing system on NASA's next Mars rover.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove 6.2 feet (1.9 meters) during the 100th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Nov. 16, 2012). The rover used its Navigation Camera after the drive to record the imag...

This panorama combining images taken on Feb. 10, 2014, by the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover looks back to where the rover crossed a dune at "Dingo Gap" four days earlier...