The NASA rover touched down eight years ago, on Aug. 5, 2012, and will soon be joined by a second rover, Perseverance.
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has seen a lot since Aug. 5,
2012, when it first set its wheels inside the 96-mile-wide (154-kilometer-wide)
basin of Gale Crater. Its mission: to study whether Mars had the water,
chemical building blocks, and energy sources that may have supported microbial
life billions of years ago.
Curiosity has since journeyed more than 14 miles (23
kilometers), drilling 26 rock samples and scooping six soil samples along the
way as it revealed that ancient Mars was indeed suitable for life. Studying the
textures and compositions of ancient rock strata is helping scientists piece
together how the Martian climate changed over time, losing its lakes and
streams until it became the cold desert it is today.
The Curiosity mission is led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, and involves almost
500 scientists from the United States and other countries around the world. Here
are eight postcards the rover has sent from Mars. Most of the panoramas were
taken by the rover’s Mast Camera, or Mastcam, led by Malin Space Science
Systems in San Diego.
A Dusty Scientist
A self-portrait of NASA’s Curiosity rover taken on Sol 2082 (June 15, 2018). A Martian dust storm has reduced sunlight and visibility at the rover’s location in Gale Crater. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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Curiosity took this selfie on June 20, 2018 (Sol 2082) as
a global dust storm enshrouded Mars, filtering sunlight and obscuring the view.
The rover drills rocks to analyze their composition and takes a selfie afterward
to capture the landscape each sample was taken from (this one is called
“Duluth”). Selfies are created by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI)
camera on the end of the rover’s robotic arm. If you’re wondering why you can’t
see the arm in this photo, read more about how selfies are taken here.
Mount Sharp Towers
Above
The Mast Camera, or Mastcam, on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its telephoto lens to capture Mount Sharp in the morning illumination on Oct. 13, 2019, the 2,555th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The panorama is composed of 44 individual images stitched together. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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Look up from Curiosity’s current location, and you’d be met
with this dramatic view of Mount Sharp, the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) peak
that Curiosity is exploring. Composed of 44 individual images stitched
together, this portrait was taken by the Mastcam on Oct. 13, 2019 (Sol 2555).
Curiosity will never venture to the upper portion of the
mountain; instead, it’s exploring the many layers found lower down. Each has a
different story to tell about how Mars, which was once more like Earth (warmer
and wetter), changed over time. The rover it will reach the next layer later
this year.
“I love this image because it tells two stories – one about
the mission and one about Mars,” said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity’s project
scientist at JPL. “The crater rim and floor where we started at eight
years ago peek in from the left, while spread out before us is the future as
Curiosity climbs higher on the mountain.”
You Are Here
This image, taken back when NASA’s Curiosity rover was at the base of Mount Sharp on March 24, 2014, indicates the rover’s approximate location as of July 30, 2020 – about 3 1/2 miles away (about 5 1/2 kilometers). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
› Larger view
Shot near Mount Sharp’s base on March
24, 2014 (Sol 580), this panorama shows just how far Curiosity has traveled in
a little over six years. The arrow indicates the rover’s location today, about
3 1/2 miles away (about 5 1/2 kilometers).
“I can’t help but also think about the corresponding
distance we’ve traveled in our understanding of Mars’ habitable past since the
time we took this picture,” said Abigail Fraeman of JPL, Curiosity’s
deputy project scientist.
You Were There
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.
“I still can’t get over how amazingly clear the skies
were when we took this, and how we could see for miles and miles and
miles,” Fraeman said of this 2018 panorama, which shows the floor of Gale
Crater as seen from higher up the mountain, at a location called Vera Rubin
Ridge. “How spectacular would the rim of Gale Crater have looked to an
astronaut if they were standing on Mount Sharp that day?”
Vasavada narrated this video tour of the journey up the
mountain.
Martian Spaghetti
Western
This wide panorama was taken by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover on Dec. 19, 2019, the 2,620th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. On the righthand foreground is Western Butte; the ridge with a crusty cap in the background is the Greenheugh pediment, which Curiosity ascended in March of 2020. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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Parts of the Martian desert resemble the American Southwest.
This wide panorama, shot by the Mastcam on Dec. 19, 2019 (Sol 2620), includes
130 images stitched together. In the foreground on the right is “Western
Butte”; the slope with a crusty cap in the background is the “Greenheugh
Pediment,” which Curiosity ascended in March 2020 for a sneak peek of
terrain scientists hope to investigate later in the mission.
A Sea of Dunes
Two sizes of wind-sculpted ripples are evident in this view of the top surface of a Martian sand dune. Sand dunes and the smaller type of ripples also exist on Earth. The larger ripples — roughly 10 feet (3 meters) apart — are a type not seen on Earth nor previously recognized as a distinct type on Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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This location, part of “Namib Dune,” shows two
different-sized ripples that the wind sculpted in the sand. Curiosity
discovered that the larger kind, standing roughly 10 feet (3 meters) apart, are
found on Mars only as a result of its thin atmosphere. The panorama was taken
on Dec. 13, 2015 (Sol 1192).
Staring at Clouds
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover imaged these drifting clouds on May 17, 2019, the 2,410th Martian day, or sol, of the mission, using its black-and-white Navigation Cameras (Navcams). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Curiosity occasionally studies clouds to learn more about
the Martian atmosphere. There is vanishingly little water in the Martian air,
which is 1% as dense as Earth’s air, but water-ice clouds do sometimes form. The
clouds shown here, which are likely water-ice, were captured about 19 miles (31
kilometers) above the surface on May 17, 2019
(Sol 2410), using the rover’s black-and-white Navigation Cameras.
Curiosity’s Hole
Story
These 26 holes represent each of the rock samples NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has collected as of early July 2020. A map in the upper left shows where the holes were drilled along the rover’s route, along with where it scooped six samples of soil. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
› Full image and caption
These 26 holes represent each of the pulverized rock samples
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has collected with its robotic arm as of early July
2020. A map in the upper left shows where the holes were drilled on the rover’s
route, along with where it scooped six samples of soil for analysis.
News Media Contact
Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov
Alana Johnson / Grey Hautaluoma
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-672-4780 / 202-358-0668
alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov / grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov
2020-151
Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory