This self-portrait of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines dozens of exposures to show gray-powder and two holes where Curiosity used its drill on the rock target 'John Klein.'
This color view of the parachute and back shell that helped deliver NASA's Curiosity rover to the surface of the Red Planet was taken by the High-HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
This portion of an image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been annotated to show the relative positions between NASA's Curiosity rover (right) and the impact site of its sky crane, or descent stage.
The red 'X' marks the spot where NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars. This is well within the targeted landing region, called the landing
ellipse, marked by the light blue line.
This set of artist's concepts shows NASA's Mars Science Laboratory cruise capsule and NASA's Orion spacecraft, which is being built now at NASA's Johnson Space Center and will one day send astronauts to Mars.
This full-resolution self-portrait shows the deck of NASA's Curiosity rover. The back of the rover can be at top left, two of the right side wheels at left, and the undulating rim of Gale Crater forms the lighter color strip in the background.
This is a version of one of the first images taken by a front Hazard-Avoidance camera on NASA's Curiosity rover. It was taken through a "fisheye" wide-angle lens but has been "linearized" so that the horizon looks flat rather than curved.
This collage shows the variety of soils found at landing sites on Mars. The elemental composition of the typical, reddish soils were investigated by NASA's Viking, Pathfinder and Mars Exploration Rover missions, and now with the Curiosity rover.
This frame from an artist's animation shows how NASA how orbiters over Mars will monitor the landing of NASA's Curiosity rover as it speeds towards its Martian landing site in Gale Crater.
Diversity in Vicinity of Curiosity's First Drilling Target
The right Mast Camera (Mastcam) of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover provided this contextual view of the vicinity of the location called 'John Klein,' selected as Curiosity's first drilling site.
This mosaic from NASA's Mars rover, Curiosity, shows the first four of five places from which the rover's scoop obtained sand to clean the sample handling and processing system.
NASA Mars Rover Curiosity at JPL, View from Front Left Corner
The rover for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, named Curiosity, is seen here inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Support equipment is holding the rover slightly off the floor.
'Raw,' 'Natural' and 'White-Balanced' Views of Martian Terrain
These three versions of the same image taken by the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity illustrate different choices that scientists can make in presenting the colors recorded by the camera.
This image shows the calibration target for the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover. The calibration target is one square and a group of nine circles that look dark in the black-and-white image.
Curiosity's First Scoop of Mars, in Vibration Movie
This image from a video shows the first Martian material collected by the scoop on the robotic arm of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. The material vibrated inside the scoop after it was lifted from the ground.
The color cameras on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, including the pair that make up the rover's Mastcam instrument, use the same type of Bayer pattern RGB filter as found in typical commercial color cameras.
This is a version of one of the first images taken by a rear Hazard-Avoidance camera on NASA's Curiosity rover and shows part of the rim of Gale Crater, which is a feature the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.
This image shows the topography, with shading added, around the area where NASA's Curiosity rover is slated to land on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT). The red oval indicates the targeted landing area for the rover known as the 'landing ellipse.'
This is the first laser spectrum from the ChemCam instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover, sent back from Mars on Aug. 19, 2012, showing emission lines from different elements present in the target, a rock near the rover's landing site dubbed 'Coronation.'
This image of NASA's Curiosity rover shows the location of the two components of the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument. The neutron generator is mounted on the right hip and the detectors are on the opposite hip.
High-Resolution Self-Portrait by Curiosity Rover Arm Camera
NASA's Curiosity rover used its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to capture a set of 55 high-resolution images, which were stitched together to create a full-color self-portrait.
This image taken by NASA's Curiosity shows what lies ahead for the rover -- its main science target, informally called Mount Sharp. The rover's shadow can be seen in the foreground, and the dark bands beyond are dunes.
This labeled version of one of the first images taken by a rear Hazard-Avoidance camera on NASA's Curiosity rover shows a fin on the radioisotope thermoelectric generator, the rear left wheel and a spring that released the dust cover.