Opportunity: Landing

NASA's Curiosity finds crystals, Opportunity celebrates her 5,000th day on Mars and the MarCO smallsats get solar arrays.

This view from NASA's Opportunity Mars rover shows part of "Marathon Valley," a destination on the western rim of Endeavour Crater, as seen from an overlook north of the valley. It was taken by the...

Download a PDF of the Spirit and Opportunity Lithograph.

This scene from NASA's Mars rover Opportunity shows "Wharton Ridge," on the western rim of Endeavour Crater. The ridge's name honors the memory of astrobiologist Robert A. Wharton (1951-2012). The ...

NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity catches its own late-afternoon shadow in this dramatically lit view eastward across Endeavour Crater on Mars.

NASA's Opportunity Mars rover, working on Mars since January 2004, passed marathon distance in total driving on March 24, 2015. This map shows the rover's entire traverse from landing to that point.

The Pancam on NASA's Opportunity Mars rover imaged this small, relatively fresh crater in April 2017, during the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 16 mission to the moon. The rover team chose to call ...

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recorded this stereo view of the summit of "Cape Tribulation," on the western rim of Endeavour Crater, on the day before the rover drove to the top. The sc...

This chart illustrates comparisons among the distances driven by various wheeled vehicles on the surface of Earth's moon and Mars.  

Faire atterrir une sonde sur Mars est l’une des choses les plus complexes à réaliser. Cette vidéo de 60 secondes explique comment cela est possible, et illustre les trois systèmes d'atterrissage ut...

Mars Exploration Rover parachute deployment testing in the world's largest wind tunnel at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, Calif.

This view combines frames taken by the panoramic camera on Opportunity's 652nd through 663rd Martian days, or sols (Nov. 23 to Dec. 5, 2005), at the edge of "Erebus Crater."

This expansive view of the martian real estate surrounding the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is the first 360 degree, high-resolution color image taken by the rover's panoramic camera.

In this selfie, Spirit shows her solar panels gleaming in the Martian sunlight and carrying only a thin veneer of dust two years after the rover landed and began exploring the red planet.

Athena Science team members and other Mars Exploration Rover team members pose for a photo at JPL.

Spirit used its microscopic imager to capture these spectacular, jagged mini-landscape on a rock called "GongGong." Wind has deposited sand and dust in the holes and crevices of the rock.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity observed this outcrop on the "Murray Ridge" portion of the rim of Endeavour Crater as the rover approached the 10th anniversary of its landing on Mars.

This stereo view was taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the rover's 87th martian day, or sol (April 1, 2004), just after Spirit left "Bonneville Crater." It sh...

This close-up view of a target rock called "Last Chance" was acquired by the microscopic imager on the arm of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on March 3, 2004, during the 39th Martian day...

Navigators must safely maneuver Spirit and Opportunity to their precise atmospheric entry points to reach their landing targets on the surface of Mars. In only six minutes, the spacecraft must slow...

This plot shows how planetary geologists are narrowing in on the composition of a rock target on Mars, known as "Esperance," located in a fracture that cuts through the Matijevic formation on the "...

This stunning image features the heat shield impact site of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.

After bouncing to a stop, the lander's petals unfold and the Mars Exploration Rover drives onto the surface of Mars.

NASA's Opportunity Mars rover passed near this small, relatively fresh crater in April 2017, during the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 16 mission to the moon. The rover team chose to call it "Orion...

This animation features the Mars Exploration Rover's entry into the martian atmosphere and final soft landing using airbags. (Audio: mechanical sounds only)