Sandy Dunes

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life, is in development for a launch opportunity in 2009.

The Atlas V first stage to support the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission is positioned inside the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

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

This graph shows the atmospheric pressure at the surface of Mars, as measured by the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station on NASA's Curiosity rover.

A NASA Dryden Flight Research Center F/A-18 852 aircraft makes a 40-degree dive toward Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., during June 2011 flight tests of a Mars landing radar.

This image, taken with the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, shows distinct bands of alternating tone and brightness within the "Murray Formation" on Mars.

Scientist Rob Sullivan explores the Dumont Dunes area, on the hunt for the best place to test-drive the Scarecrow rover.

This annotated artists' concept shows the location of all of the Curiosity rover's 17 cameras.

Patches of Martian sandstone visible in the lower-left and upper portions of this view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover have a knobbly texture due to nodules apparently...

This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the "Bradbury Landing" location where it landed in August 2012 to the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop where it drilled into the lowest pa...

Examination of a calcium sulfate vein called "Diyogha" by the ChemCam instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover found boron, sodium and chlorine. An image from the rover's Mastcam, at left, provide...

This photo mosaic shows the scour mark, dubbed Goulburn, left by the thrusters on the sky crane that helped lower NASA's Curiosity rover to the Red Planet.

Team members celebrate in JPL's Curiosity Surface Mission Support Area when images are received confirming Curiosity's first drive on Mars on Aug. 22, 2012. (Audio: background sounds and cheering o...

Many members of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project, which operates the Curiosity rover on Mars, gathered for this 2016 team photo with a test rover in the "Mars Yard" at NASA's Jet Propulsion L...

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 ...

ASA's Curiosity Mars rover used the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on its mast to catch this look-back eastward at wheel tracks from driving through and past "Dingo Gap" inside Gale Crater.

Mercury passed in front of the sun on June 3, 2014, as viewed from Mars. The Mast Camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recorded the event. (No audio)

This graph presents information from the NASA Curiosity Mars rover's onboard analysis of rock powder drilled from the "Buckskin" and "Greenhorn" target locations on lower Mount Sharp.

Animation shows NASA's Mars Curiosity rover touching a rock with an instrument on its arm, then stowing the arm and driving on. (No audio)

This nearly global mosaic of observations made by the Mars Color Imager on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Nov. 18, 2012, shows a dust storm in Mars' southern hemisphere.

Sandstone layers with varying resistance to erosion are evident in this Martian scene recorded by the Mast Camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on Feb. 25, 2014, about one-quarter mile (about 400 ...

From a position in the shallow "Yellowknife Bay" depression, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its right Mast Camera (Mastcam) to take the telephoto images combined into this panorama of geological ...

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used one of its Hazcams to catch this apparent dusty wind gust blowing overhead on March 18, 2022, the 3,418th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Scientists believe it...

This images shows the powered descent, crane and flyaway portions of edl.

A test operator in clean-room garb observes rolling of the wheels during the first drive test of NASA's Curiosity rover, on July 23, 2010.