Holden Crater

Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada gives a descriptive tour of the Mars rover's view in Gale Crater. The white-balanced scene looks back over the journey so far.

Landing a spacecraft on Mars is one of the trickiest things we do. This 60-second video explains how it's done, and the three landing systems we use at the Red Planet.

This image of NASA's Curiosity rover shows the location of the two components of the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument.

Technicians in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida put NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity, through a series of rotation te...

This view of the lower front and underbelly areas of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity was taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 34th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on M...

This image shows the location of the 150-micrometer sieve screen on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, a device used to remove larger particles from samples before delivery to science instruments.

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...

Sensors on two finger-like mini-booms extending horizontally from the mast of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity will monitor wind speed, wind direction and air temperature.

The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera will fly on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, launching in late 2011.

This sequence of images shows a blast zone where the sky crane from NASA's Curiosity rover mission hit the ground after setting the rover down in August 2012, and how that dark scar's appearance ch...

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...

NASA Mars Rover Curiosity at JPL, View from Front Left Corner

This image shows the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Curiosity rover, with the Martian landscape in the background.

The Curiosity Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) captured the rover's descent to the surface of the Red Planet. The instrument shot 4 fps video from heatshield separation to the ground. (No audio)

This view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a swath of bedrock called "Alexander Hills," which the rover approached for close-up inspection of selected targets. It...

This view shows nodules exposed in sandstone that is part of the Stimson geological unit on Mount Sharp, Mars. The nodules can be seen to consist of grains of sand cemented together.

This image shows preparation for March 2011 testing of the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, in a 25-foot-diameter (7.6-meter-diameter) space-simulation chamber. The testing was designed to...

Scientist Jennifer Eigenbrode used a soil simulant — material that closely resembles material found on the martian surface — to test the effectiveness of a sample-preparation method that was added ...

At Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, workers guide an overhead crane as it lifts the Centaur upper stage for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V in the Vertical Integ...

A viewpoint on "Vera Rubin Ridge" provided NASA's Curiosity Mars rover this detailed look back over the area where it began its mission inside Gale Crater, plus more-distant features of the crater....

The rock "Ithaca" shown here, with a rougher lower texture and smoother texture on top, appears to be a piece of the local sedimentary bedrock protruding from the surrounding soil in Gale Crater.

Concretions at 'Cumberland'

Meet the new MSL Rover

This close-up view shows Curiosity's heat shield, which helped the rover survive the harrowing journey through the Martian atmosphere, on the surface of Mars.

This cropped image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows one set of marks on the surface of Mars where blasts from the descent-stage rocket engines blew away some of the surface material.