Replicating Martian Dunes

An in-flight camera check on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft turned on illumination sources that are part of the Curiosity rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) instrument.

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

The Curiosity rover has taught us a lot about the history of Mars and its potential to support life. Take a tour of its landing site, Gale Crater.

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).

Technicians, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, use an overhead crane to move NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity, to ...

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Dust Removal Tool to brush aside reddish dust, revealing gray, less-oxidized rock material at a target called "Bonanza King," visible in this Aug. 17, 2014, ima...

The two main parts of the ChemCam laser instrument for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission are shown in this combined image.

The NASA Mars rover Curiosity used its left Navigation Camera to record this view of the step down into a shallow depression called "Yellowknife Bay."

The heritage for investigations with the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover comes from NASA's Odyssey orbiter.

This map shows the route driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity through the 561st Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (March 5, 2014).

This northeast-facing view from the lower edge of the pale "Pahrump Hills" outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp includes wind-sculpted ripples of sand and dust in the middle ground. It was taken by C...

This view from the wide-angle Hazard Avoidance Camera on the front of NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover shows the rover's drill in position for a mini-drill test to assess whether a rock target called "M...

This oblique view of the lower mound in Gale crater shows layers of rock that preserve a record of environments on Mars.

On the second anniversary of NASA Curiosity on Mars, the rover navigates a sandy valley on its way to Mount Sharp

President Barack Obama talks on the phone with NASA's Curiosity Mars rover team aboard Air Force One during a flight to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, Aug. 13, 2012.

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...

The Space Flight Operations Center, a National Historic Landmark, has been operational and staffed every day since 1964. Here engineers send and receive commands for any spacecraft in, and beyond,...

NASA's next Mars rover, Curiosity, drives up a ramp during a test at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., on Sept. 10, 2010.

This set of images shows the similarity of sulfate-rich veins seen on Mars by NASA's Curiosity rover to sulfate-rich veins seen on Earth.

This photograph of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, was taken during mobility testing on June 3, 2011. The location is inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propul...

This graphic from NASA's Curiosity mission shows an analysis of the composition of two rocks called "Crest" and "Rapitan" in the "Yellowknife Bay" area of Mars.

A self-portrait taken by NASA's Curiosity rover taken on Sol 2082 (June 15, 2018). A Martian dust storm has reduced sunlight and visibility at the rover's location in Gale Crater.

This graphic illustrates how dimensions of clay minerals' crystal structure are affected by which ions are present in the mineral. The CheMin instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover identified di...

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...

The Atlas V first stage to support the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission is positioned inside the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.