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Scarecrow Rover Desert Tests

sand dune, mars rover, wheel, Dumont, Scarecrow, test - This image shows the scarecrow test rover going over a dunes obstacle course, while an engineer hunches down to see the wheels as it drives.

June 05, 2014

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Large-scale crossbedding in the sandstone of this ridge on a lower slope of Mars' Mount Sharp is typical of windblown sand dunes that have petrified. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Mastcam to...
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Large-scale crossbedding in the sandstone of this ridge on a lower slope of Mars' Mount Sharp is typical of windblown sand dunes that have petrified. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Mastcam to capture this vista on Aug. 27, 2015. Similarly textured sandstone is common in the U.S. Southwest.
Vista from Curiosity Shows Crossbedded Martian Sandstone
How samples are delivered and then tested in the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite on the Mars Curiosity rover. (No audio)
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Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite on Mars Curiosity
Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite on Mars Curiosity
Half of the Atlas V payload fairing for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, encased in plastic, is lifted from its transportation pallet in the airlock of the Payload Hazardous Servicing ...
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Half of the Atlas V payload fairing for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, encased in plastic, is lifted from its transportation pallet in the airlock of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Getting Payload Fairing Ready
On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket arrives on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-41, situated near the Atlantic Ocean.
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On Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket arrives on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-41, situated near the Atlantic Ocean.
Atlas V Stands Tall
This view shows the patch of veined, flat-lying rock selected as the first drilling site for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.
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This view shows the patch of veined, flat-lying rock selected as the first drilling site for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.
'John Klein' Site Selected for Curiosity's Drill Debut
This self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at the "Mojave" site, where its drill collected the mission's second taste of Mount Sharp. The scene combines dozens of images ta...
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This self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at the 'Mojave' site, where its drill collected the mission's second taste of Mount Sharp. The scene combines dozens of images taken during January 2015 by the MAHLI camera at the end of the rover's robotic arm.
Curiosity Self-Portrait at 'Mojave' on Mount Sharp
This May 25, 2015, view from the Curiosity rover's Mastcam shows a site where two different types of bedrock meet near "Marias Pass" on Mount Sharp. Pale mudstone in the foreground is like bedrock ...
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This view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a site where two different types of bedrock meet on lower Mount Sharp.
Geological Contact Zone Near 'Marias Pass' on Mars
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.
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Traction control testing
Traction control testing
This video (part 2 of a 4 part series) shows engineers testing a new parachute in the largest wind tunnel on Earth for the Curiosity rover, prior to its landing on Mars in August 2012.
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The Martians: Testing Curiosity's Parachute - Part 2
The Martians: Testing Curiosity's Parachute - Part 2
This animation shows the location of a set of Hazard-Avoidance cameras on the back of NASA's Curiosity rover. Each camera is protected by a clear dust cover, shown here popping off. (No audio)
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Curiosity's Hazard Cameras Ready for Action
Curiosity's Hazard Cameras Ready for Action
This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows details of rock texture and color in an area where the rover's Dust Removal Tool (DRT) brushed away dust that ...
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This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows details of rock texture and color in an area where the rover's Dust Removal Tool (DRT) brushed away dust that was on the rock.
Zapped, Martian Rock (Annotated)
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used a mechanism on its robotic arm to dig up five scoopfuls of material from a patch of dusty sand called "Rocknest," producing the five bite-mark pits visible in this ...
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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used a mechanism on its robotic arm to dig up five scoopfuls of material from a patch of dusty sand called "Rocknest," producing the five bite-mark pits visible in this image from the rover's left Navigation Camera (Navcam).
Five Bites Into Mars
Technicians, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, use an overhead crane to move a rocket-powered descent stage for integration with NASA's Mars Sci...
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Technicians, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, use an overhead crane to move a rocket-powered descent stage for integration with NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity.
Descent Stage
This false-color map shows the area within Gale Crater on Mars, where NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Aug. 5, 2012 PDT (Aug. 6, 2012 EDT).
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This false-color map shows the area within Gale Crater on Mars, where NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Aug. 5, 2012 PDT (Aug. 6, 2012 EDT).
Downslope of the Fan
This Jan. 19, 2016, self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at "Namib Dune," where the rover's activities included scuffing into the dune with a wheel and scooping samples of...
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This Jan. 19, 2016, self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at "Namib Dune," where the rover's activities included scuffing into the dune with a wheel and scooping samples of sand for laboratory analysis.
Curiosity Self-Portrait at Martian Sand Dune
This global map of Mars was acquired on July 31, 2012, by the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
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This global map of Mars was acquired on July 31, 2012, by the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Mars Weather Map, July 31
A conventional X-ray diffraction instrument (left) is the size of a large refrigerator, in contrast to the compact size of the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover...
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A conventional X-ray diffraction instrument (left) is the size of a large refrigerator, in contrast to the compact size of the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover (top right) and the spin-off commercial portable instrument (lower right, orange case).
X-ray Diffraction, Big and Small
Lozenge-shaped crystals are evident in this magnified view of a Martian rock target called "Mojave," taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) instrument on the arm of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.
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Lozenge-shaped crystals are evident in this magnified view of a Martian rock target called "Mojave," taken on Nov. 15, 2014, by the Mars Hand Lens Imager on the arm of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. These features record concentration of dissolved salts, possibly in a drying lake.
Crystals May Have Formed in Drying Martian Lake
This image shows the front sides of three rovers viewed at an angle. On the right is the Mars Science Laboratory rover, which is the size of a small sport utility vehicle. Its 7-foot-long arm is ex...
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This image shows the front sides of three rovers viewed at an angle. On the right is the Mars Science Laboratory rover, which is the size of a small sport utility vehicle. Its 7-foot-long arm is extended in front of it, resting on the pavement. The camera 'eyes' at the top of its mast are turned downward at its smaller predecessors. In the middle, the tiny, wagon-size Sojourner rover has a deployable, alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer and single-color camera attached at its rear. On the left, the dune-buggy-size Mars Exploration Rover has its robotic arm extended in front of it, resting on the pavement. The panoramic camera 'eyes' at the top of its mast are turned upward, as if 'looking' at the bigger Mars Science Laboratory rover. All three rovers have six wheels, rocker-bogey suspension systems, rectangular bodies, solar panels, and antennas pointing upward from their spacecraft decks.
Third-Generation Mars Rover Dwarfs Predecessors
This view southeastward from Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) shows terrain judged difficult for traversing between the rover and an outcrop in the middle distance where a pale rock unit meets a d...
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This May 10, 2015, view from Curiosity's Mastcam shows terrain judged difficult for traversing between the rover and an outcrop in the middle distance where a pale rock unit meets a darker rock unit above it. The rover team decided not to approach this outcrop and identified an alternative.
Unfavorable Terrain for Crossing Near 'Logan Pass'
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover measures the concentration of methane in the atmosphere at Gale Crater. A one-time spike in methane, up to about 7 parts per billion occurred during Curiosity's first Ma...
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NASA's Curiosity Mars rover measures the concentration of methane in the atmosphere at Gale Crater. A one-time spike in methane, up to about 7 parts per billion occurred during Curiosity's first Martian year. Variations in much lower background levels of methane may be seasonal.
Methane Background Levels at Gale Crater, Mars
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!
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Navigation Camera (Navcam) for this look back after finishing a long drive on Feb. 19, 2014. The rows of rocks just to the right of the fresh wheel tracks in th...
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NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Navigation Camera (Navcam) for this look back after finishing a long drive on Feb. 19, 2014. The rows of rocks just to the right of the fresh wheel tracks in this view are an outcrop called "Junda." This view is looking toward the east-northeast.
Curiosity's View Back After Passing 'Junda' Striations
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...
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Picture of Goddard scientist Jennifer Eigenbrode performing a test.
Scientist Jennifer Eigenbrode injecting a chemical into a rock sample
This set of views illustrates capabilities of the Mast Camera (MastCam) instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover, using a scene on Earth as an example of what MastCam's two camer...
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This set of views illustrates capabilities of the Mast Camera (MastCam) instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover, using a scene on Earth as an example of what MastCam's two cameras can see from different distances.
Illustrating MastCam Capabilities with a Terrestrial Scene

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