Rover Curiosity explores Mars

NASA’s rover Curiosity is rolling about deep in a Martian crater after a picture-perfect descent and landing, beginning what promises to be one of the most ambitious planetary missions in history.

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Aug. 14, 2012

The first color image taken from orbit showing NASA's rover Curiosity on Mars includes details of the layered bedrock on the floor of Gale Crater, which the rover is beginning to investigate.

/ NASA via Reuters

Aug. 14, 2012

Curiosity will gather samples from rocks in the crater. Scientists hope they will indicate whether Mars has ever sustained, or could sustain, life.

/ NASA via Reuters

Aug. 9, 2012

This NASA image shows the gravelly Martian surface under Curiosity.

/ AFP/Getty Images

Aug. 9, 2012

This NASA image shows the mountains looming in the distance in front of Curiosity.

/ AFP/Getty Images

Aug. 9, 2012

This NASA image shows the gravelly Martian surface surrounding Curiosity.

/ AFP/Getty Images

Aug. 9, 2012

This NASA image shows the gravelly Martian surface surrounding Curiosity.

/ AFP/Getty Images

Aug. 9, 2012

This NASA image shows the mountains looming in the distance in front of Curiosity.

/ AFP/Getty Images

Aug. 8, 2012

An area of the Martian surface was excavated by the blast of the Mars Science Laboratory's descent stage rocket engines. This is part of a larger, high-resolution color mosaic made from images obtained by Curiosity's mast camera. With the loose debris blasted away by the rockets, details of the underlying materials are visible. Of particular note is a well-defined, topmost layer that contains fragments of rock embedded in a matrix of finer material. Shown in the inset in the figure are pebbles up to 1.25 inches across and a larger clast four inches long protruding up by about two inches from the layer in which it is embedded.

/ NASA via Reuters

Aug. 8, 2012

Part of the wall of Gale Crater, the location on Mars where the rover landed Aug. 5. This is part of a larger, high-resolution color mosaic made from images obtained by Curiosity's mast camera. This image of the crater wall is north of the landing site, or behind the rover. Here, a network of valleys believed to have formed by water erosion enters Gale Crater from the outside. This is the first view scientists have had of a fluvial system — one relating to a river or stream from the surface of Mars.

/ NASA via Reuters

Aug. 9, 2012

This image provided shows the first 360-degree color panorama taken on Mars by NASA's Curiosity rover. The panorama was stitched together using thumbnail images taken by the rover's mast camera.

/ NASA via AP

Aug. 9, 2012

This is a portion of the first color 360-degree panorama from the Curiosity rover on Mars. It is made up of thumbnails that are small copies of higher-resolution images.

/ NASA via AP

Aug. 9, 2012

This is a portion of the first color 360-degree panorama from the Curiosity rover on Mars. The mission's destination, a mountain at the center of Gale Crater called Mount Sharp, can be seen in the distance to the left. Blast marks from the rover's descent stage are in the foreground.

/ NASA via Reuters

Aug. 9, 2012

David Muliere, senior systems engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., looks at a 360-degree panorama of Gale Crater vista, taken by NASA's Curiosity rover.

Damian Dovarganes / AP

Aug. 9, 2012

A 360-degree color panorama in color of Gale Crater vista, taken by the Curiosity rover, is displayed at the Malin Space Science Systems control room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Damian Dovarganes / AP

Aug. 9, 2012

Michael Malin, principal investigator for the Mars Descent Imager with Malin Space Science Systems of San Diego, looks at a data set of the first 360-degree panorama of the Gale Crater landing site taken by NASA's Curiosity rover.

Damian Dovarganes / AP

Aug. 9, 2012

Michael Malin, left, a Mars rover scientist with Malin Space Science Systems of San Diego, discusses a low-resolution panoramic image of Mars, shown in the background, at a news conference. Listening are Dawn Sumner of the University of California at Davis, a member of the Mars Science Laboratory team, and Andy Mishkin, integrated planning and execution team chief for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Grant Hindsley / AP

Aug. 7, 2012

This full-resolution image shows part of the deck of NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars taken from one of the rover's navigation cameras. The rim of Gale Crater is the lighter colored band across the horizon. The effects of the descent stage's rocket engines blasting the ground can be seen on the right side of the image, next to the rover.

/ Reuters

Aug. 7, 2012

This full-resolution self-portrait shows the deck of NASA's Curiosity rover from the rover's navigation cameras. The back of the rover can be seen at the top left of the image, and two of the rover's right side wheels can be seen on the left. This mosaic is made of eight images, each of 1,024 by 1,024 pixels. The "augmented reality" or AR tag seen in the middle of the image can be used in the future with smartphones to obtain more information about the mission.

/ NASA/JPL-CalTech via Reuters

Aug. 8, 2012

The edge of NASA's Curiosity rover, showing the shadow of the rover's now-upright mast, center, and the arm's shadow at left. The navigation camera is used to help find the sun — information that is needed for locating and communicating with Earth.

/ NASA via AP

Aug. 8, 2012

A Picasso-like self portrait of NASA's Curiosity rover taken by the navigation cameras located on its mast. The camera snapped pictures 360-degrees around the rover, while pointing down at the rover deck, up and straight ahead. Those images are shown here in a polar projection.

/ NASA via AFP/Getty Images

Aug. 8, 2012

The Martian horizon is captured by cameras aboard the Curiosity rover. The image is one of dozens that will be made into a panorama. Curiosity landed on Mars on Aug. 6 at 1:32 EST and is on a two-year mission to study whether the Red Planet ever could have supported microbial life.

/ AFP/Getty Images

Aug. 7, 2012

This image shows the first color view of the north wall and rim of Gale Crater, where NASA's Curiosity rover landed. The picture was taken by the rover's camera at the end of its stowed robotic arm and appears fuzzy because of dust on the camera's cover.

/ NASA via AP

Aug. 7, 2012

The four main pieces of hardware that arrived on Mars with the Curiosity rover were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and are shown in this photograph released by the space agency. The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured this image about 24 hours after landing. The large, reduced-scale image points out the strewn hardware: The heat shield was the first piece to hit the ground, followed by the back shell attached to the parachute and then the rover itself touched down. After cables were cut, the sky crane flew to the northwest and crashed. Relatively dark areas in all four spots are from disturbances of the bright dust on Mars, revealing the darker material below the surface dust. Around the rover, this disturbance was from the sky crane thrusters and forms a bilaterally symmetrical pattern. The darkened radial jets from the sky crane are downrange from the point of oblique impact, much like the oblique impacts of asteroids.

/ NASA/JPL-CalTech/University of Arizona via Reuters

Aug. 6, 2012

Mars Science Laboratory Mission Director Jennifer Trosper speaks at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. NASA opened a new chapter in the history of interplanetary exploration when its $2.5 billion nuclear-powered robot Curiosity beamed back pictures from the surface of Mars.

Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images

Aug. 6, 2012

This image taken by Curiosity shows what lies ahead for the rover — its main target, informally called Mount Sharp. The rover's shadow is seen in the foreground, and the dark bands beyond are dunes. Rising in the distance is the highest peak of Mount Sharp at about 3.4 miles, taller than Mount Whitney in California. The Curiosity team hopes to drive the rover to the mountain to investigate its lower layers, which scientists think hold clues to past environmental change. This image was captured by the rover's front left hazard-avoidance camera at full resolution shortly after it landed. It has not yet been linearized to remove the distorted appearance that results from its fisheye lens.

Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity / AP

Aug. 5, 2012

This image was obtained by the Curiosity rover during its descent to the surface of Mars. The photo, taken by the Mars Descent Imager instrument known as MARDI, shows the 15-foot-diameter heat shield when it was about 50 feet from the spacecraft. It was obtained minutes before touching down on Mars and about three seconds after heat shield separation. It is among the first color images Curiosity sent back from Mars. The resolution of MARDI frames is reduced by a factor of eight in order for them to be promptly received on Earth during this early phase of the mission. Full resolution images will be returned to Earth over the next several months as Curiosity begins its scientific exploration.

/ NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

This false-color map based on data from NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter shows the area where NASA's Curiosity rover landed. The image was obtained by Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System. It merges topographical data with thermal inertia data, which record the ability of the surface to hold heat. The yellow oval shows the elliptical target for Curiosity's landing site.

/ NASA/JPL-CalTech/ASU via AP

A green diamond shows approximately where NASA's Curiosity landed on Mars, a region about a mile northeast of its target in the center of the estimated landing region (blue ellipse). The location of the diamond is based on Earth-based navigation data taken before the rover’s entry into the Martian atmosphere, as well as data taken by its navigation instruments during descent.

/ NASA/JPL-CalTech via AP

Aug. 5, 2012

NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute are seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Curiosity descends to the surface of Mars. Curiosity is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability. Scientist will try to determine whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes.

/ AP

Aug. 5, 2012

NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute, left, descend to the Martian surface. The high-resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured this image of Curiosity while the orbiter was listening to transmissions from the rover. The inset image is a cutout of the rover, stretched to avoid saturation. The rover is descending toward the etched plains just north of the sand dunes that fringe Mount Sharp.

/ NASA/JPL-CalTech/University of Arizona via AP

Aug. 6, 2012

This is one of the first images from the Curiosity rover after it landed safely on Mars.

/ AP

Aug. 6, 2012

One of the first views from NASA's Curiosity rover after it touched down on Mars. The image was taken through a fisheye wide-angle lens on one of the rover's hazard-avoidance cameras on the rover's base.

/ Reuters

Aug. 6, 2012

Jasper Goldberg, left, and Andreas Bastian, both 22, watch a live broadcast of the NASA Mission Control Center in New York’s Times Square.

Andrew Burton / Reuters

Aug. 6, 2012

Julian Anderson, center, of Detroit celebrates in Times Square while watching a live broadcast of the NASA Mission Control Center as the rover lands on Mars.

Andrew Burton / Reuters

Aug. 5, 2012

Miguel San Martin, a chief engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, left, celebrates with Adam Steltzner, Mars Science Laboratory’s entry, descent and landing phase lead engineer, after the successful landing of Curiosity. They were gathered at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The rover landed at 1:31 a.m. Eastern time, as planned months ago.

Damian Dovarganes / AP

Aug. 5, 2012

From left, Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity team members Richard Cook, Adam Steltzner and John Grotzinger, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., celebrate the landing of the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars.

Damian Dovarganes / AP

Aug. 5, 2012

Telecom engineer Peter Ilott, front right, hugs a colleague at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., as they celebrate Curiosity's successful landing.

/ Reuters

Aug. 5, 2012

Entry, descent and landing team leader Adam Steltzner, right, celebrates at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. He said it appeared that the rover landed in a "nice flat spot."

Brian van der Brug / AP

Aug. 5, 2012

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden closes his eyes as the rover begins its decent to the surface of Mars, inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity rover at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Curiosity is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability and potentially paving the way for human exploration.

/ Reuters

Aug. 5, 2012

Bobak Ferdowsi, a flight director for the Curiosity Rover who cuts his hair differently for each mission, works inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity rover at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Brian van der Brug / AP

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