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INSIGHT MISSION IMAGES

Curiosity's Stunt Double

mars rover, desert, dune, test, Scarecrow - Waiting on the sand for its test drive to support Mars rover Curiosity is the car-size Scarecrow rover.

June 05, 2014

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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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...
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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).
Curiosity's Eastward View After Sol 100 Drive, Stereo
This artist's concept depicts the moment immediately after NASA's Curiosity rover touches down onto the Martian surface.
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This artist's concept depicts the moment immediately after NASA's Curiosity rover touches down onto the Martian surface.
A Moment After Curiosity's Touchdown, Artist's Concept
NASA's Curiosity rover found evidence for an ancient, flowing stream on Mars at a few sites, including the rock outcrop pictured here, which the science team has named "Hottah" after Hottah Lake in...
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NASA's Curiosity rover found evidence for an ancient, flowing stream on Mars at a few sites, including the rock outcrop pictured here, which the science team has named "Hottah" after Hottah Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories.
Remnants of Ancient Streambed on Mars
Checking Contact Points for Curiosity's Drill
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Checking Contact Points for Curiosity's Drill
Checking Contact Points for Curiosity's Drill (Annotated)
This image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows the cover on an inlet that will receive powdered rock and soil samples for analysis.
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This image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows the cover on an inlet that will receive powdered rock and soil samples for analysis.
Getting Ready for Sampling on Mars
This mosaic, taken with the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the planned route (in yellow) of NASA's Curiosity rover from "Pah...
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This image shows the planned route (in yellow) of NASA's Curiosity rover from "Pahrump Hills" at the base of Mount Sharp, through the "Murray Formation," and south to the hematite ridge further up the flank of Mount Sharp. The rover's location is near Pahrump Hills noted with a green star on the top right of the image.
Curiosity Rover Planned Route
This area at the base of Mount Sharp on Mars includes a pale outcrop, called "Pahrump Hills," that NASA's Curiosity Mars rover investigated from September 2014 to March 2015, and the "Artist's Driv...
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This area at the base of Mount Sharp on Mars includes a pale outcrop, called "Pahrump Hills," that NASA's Curiosity Mars rover investigated from September 2014 to March 2015, and the "Artist's Drive" route toward higher layers of the mountain.
Curiosity Heading Away from 'Pahrump Hills'
Engineers put the rover through spin tests to ensure smooth sailing in space.
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Building Curiosity: Going For A Spin
Building Curiosity: Going For A Spin
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Atlas V rocket's payload fairing containing the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft stands securely a...
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In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Atlas V rocket's payload fairing containing the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft stands securely atop the transporter that will carry it to Space Launch Complex 41.
Transporting Fairing to Launch Pad
Amanda Steffy and Rob Sullivan help shape a course of sand ripples for the Scarecrow rover to drive over. This test was done in the Dumont Dunes in California's Mojave Desert, near Death Valley.
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sand dune, mars rover, wheel, Dumont, Scarecrow, test - This image shows a row of uphill, white sand dunes that JPL engineers shape with long rakes for desert rover test, under blue skies. The Scarecrow rover sits at the bottom, waiting to be tested.
Replicating Martian Dunes
This map shows the route on lower Mount Sharp that NASA's Curiosity followed in April and early May 2015, in the context of the surrounding terrain. Numbers along the route identify the sol, or Ma...
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This map shows the route on lower Mount Sharp that NASA's Curiosity followed in April and early May 2015, in the context of the surrounding terrain. Numbers along the route identify the sol, or Martian day, on which it completed the drive reaching that point, as counted since its 2012 landing.
Curiosity's Path to Some Spring 2015 Study Sites
This annotated artists' concept shows the location of all of the Curiosity rover's 17 cameras.
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This annotated artists' concept shows the location of all of the Curiosity rover's 17 cameras.
Annotated Image of Curiosity Rover and all of its Cameras
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove 83 feet eastward during the 102nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Nov. 18, 2012), and used its left navigation camera to record this view ahead at the end of ...
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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove 83 feet eastward during the 102nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Nov. 18, 2012), and used its left navigation camera to record this view ahead at the end of the drive.
Post-Drive View on Curiosity's Sol 102
NASA's Curiosity rover dusts off a rock on Mars for the first time.
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Curiosity Rover Gives Mars the Brush-Off
Curiosity Rover Gives Mars the Brush-Off
The Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this view of "Vera Rubin Ridge" about two weeks before the rover starting to ascend this steep ridge on lower Mount Sharp.
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The Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this view of "Vera Rubin Ridge" about two weeks before the rover starting to ascend this steep ridge on lower Mount Sharp.
Looking Up at Layers of 'Vera Rubin Ridge' on Sol 1790 - Figure 1
This map shows the two locations of a research campaign by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover mission to investigate active sand dunes on Mars. In late 2015, Curiosity reached crescent-shaped dunes, calle...
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This map shows the two locations of a research campaign by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover mission to investigate active sand dunes on Mars. In late 2015, Curiosity reached crescent-shaped dunes, called barchans. In February 2017, the rover reached a location where the dunes are linear in shape.
Curiosity's Bagnold Dunes Campaign: Two Types of Dunes
The Martian soil examined by the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover shows the diffraction signature, or "fingerprint," of the mineral olivine, shown here on Eart...
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The Martian soil examined by the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover shows the diffraction signature, or "fingerprint," of the mineral olivine, shown here on Earth in the form of tumbled crystals about a quarter-inch (several millimeters) in size.
Olivine on Earth
Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Qualification Testing
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Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Qualification Testing
Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Qualification Testing
This image demonstrates how engineers place the drill carried by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity onto rock targets.
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Checking Contact Points for Curiosity's Drill
Checking Contact Points for Curiosity's Drill
Three Generations of NASA Mars Rovers
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Full-scale models of three generations of NASA Mars rovers show the increase in size from the Sojourner rover of the Mars Pathfinder (center), to the twin Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity(left), to the Mars Science Laboratory rover (right).
Newest is Biggest: Three Generations of NASA Mars Rovers
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, largest of the 10 science instruments for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, will examine samples of Martian rocks, soil and atmosphere for inform...
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The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, largest of the 10 science instruments for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, will examine samples of Martian rocks, soil and atmosphere for information about chemicals that are important to life and other chemical indicators about past and present environments.
Installing SAM Instrument into Curiosity Mars Rover
This view of the three left wheels of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines two images that were taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 34th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity'...
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This view of the three left wheels of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines two images that were taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 34th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Sept. 9, 2012).
Wheels and a Destination
NASA's Curiosity has determined the age of a Martian rock and provided first readings of radiation on the surface of Mars.
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Dating Younger Rocks
Dating Younger Rocks
After three action-packed years on Mars, the Curiosity rover is ready to take on higher slopes of Mount Sharp.
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Curiosity Rover Report (August 5, 2015): Three Years on Mars
Curiosity Rover Report (August 5, 2015): Three Years on Mars
NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Curiosity descended to the surface on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT).
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NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Curiosity descended to the surface on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT).
Curiosity Spotted on Parachute by Orbiter

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