- Curiosity Rover Celebrates First Anniversary on Mars
- Curiosity Snaps a Selfie
- The Long Flight Begins
- Finding a Place to Land
- Seventeen Cameras on Curiosity
- Celebrating Curiosity’s Landing
- Remnants of an Ancient Streambed
- Dusting the Surface
- Panorama From the Rock’s Nest
- En Route to Mount Sharp
- American Curiosity Knows No Bounds
Curiosity Rover Celebrates First Anniversary on Mars
by Nathan Eddy
Curiosity Snaps a Selfie
This self-portrait of Curiosity combines 66 exposures taken by the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s work on Mars.
The Long Flight Begins
Curiosity began its mission with an on-time launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on Nov. 26, 2011.
Finding a Place to Land
As of June 2012, the target landing area for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission was the ellipse marked on this image of Gale Crater. The ellipse is about 12 miles long and 4 miles wide.
Seventeen Cameras on Curiosity
This graphic shows the locations of the cameras on the Curiosity rover. The rover’s mast features seven cameras, there is one camera on the end of a robotic arm and there are nine cameras hard-mounted to the rover.
Celebrating Curiosity’s Landing
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) team in the MSL Mission Support Area reacts after learning that the Curiosity rover has landed safely on Mars, and images start coming into the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, in Pasadena, Calif.
Remnants of an Ancient Streambed
Curiosity found evidence of an ancient, flowing stream on Mars at a few sites, including the rock outcrop pictured here, which the science team has named “Hottah” after Hottah Lake in Canada’s Northwest Territories.
Dusting the Surface
This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager on Curiosity shows the patch of rock cleaned by the first use of the rover’s Dust Removal Tool.
Panorama From the Rock’s Nest
This panorama is a mosaic of images taken by the rover’s Mastcam while Curiosity was working at a site called “Rocknest” in October and November 2012.
En Route to Mount Sharp
A rise topped by two gray rocks near the center of the scene is informally named “Twin Cairns Island.” It is about 100 feet from Curiosity’s current position.
American Curiosity Knows No Bounds
Along with this American flag medallion, the other three medallions adorning the rover’s rocker arms are the NASA logo, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory logo and the Curiosity mission logo.