Opportunity: Landing

This graphic compares atmospheric opacity in different Mars years from the point of view of NASA’s Opportunity rover. 

This two-image blink shows a comparison of two exposure times in images from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity showing comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring as it f...

Some of the team members from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover project were still in college -- or even high school -- when the rovers landed in 2004. Hear their stories of becoming part of this remar...

In the fourth season of “On a Mission” we’ll be transported to the Red Planet with all five of NASA’s Mars rovers.

The first episode documents the hurdles leading up to both launches. From Mother Nature being uncooperative to a problem with the cork insulation on the rocket, lift-off was no small feat. Ultimate...

This Martian scene shows contrasting textures and colors of "Hinners Point," at the northern edge of "Marathon Valley," and swirling reddish zones on the valley floor to the left.

The panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured a sweeping image of "Burns Cliff" after driving right to the base of this southeastern portion of the inner wall of "Endur...

This panorama is the view NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity gained from the top of the "Cape Tribulation" segment of the rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover reached this point three weeks be...

This full-circle, stereo panorama shows the terrain around the NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during the 3,071st Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Sept. 13, 2012).

This image shows rocky debris and dust, which planetary scientists call "regolith" or "soil," that has been churned up by the rover wheels.

This grouping of two test rovers and a flight spare provides a graphic comparison of three generations of Mars rovers developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The setting is ...

After two failed missions to Mars, NASA tried to double its odds for success by sending twin rovers to the Red Planet. Part one of the story of Spirit and Opportunity takes us from their birth to t...

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 ...

This stunning image mosaic of the "Columbia Hills" is the first 360-degree panorama taken by Spirit after arriving at the hills.

As NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity neared the ninth anniversary of its landing on Mars, the rover was working in the 'Matijevic Hill' area seen in this view from Opportunity's panoramic c...

A shadow and tracks of NASA's Mars rover Opportunity appear in this March 22, 2016, image, which has been rotated 13.5 degrees to adjust for the tilt of the rover. The hillside descends to the left...

Interact with this 3D model of a Mars Exploration Rover.

Environmental testing

This image from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows where a rock called "Pinnacle Island" had been before it appeared in front of the rover in early Jan...

Download a PDF of the Spirit Poster.

NASA's twin robot geologists, the Mars Exploration Rovers, will launch toward Mars in 2003 in search of answers about the history of water on Mars. The rovers will be targeted to sites that appear ...

The Perseverance rover holds many promises: to look for evidence of life on Mars, to collect rock samples meant to be sent to Earth one day, and to test technology that could be used in a future hu...

This view of a 90-foot-wide, relatively fresh crater on Mars, "Orion Crater," combines images from the left eye and right eye of the Panoramic Camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Oppor...

While driving eastward toward the northwestern flank of "McCool Hill," Spirit's wheels churned up the largest amount of bright soil discovered to that point in the mission. This image from Spirit's...

Divide and conquer: combining 11 small sections of "Block Island" (the color map shows five of the sections).