Mars Rover Landscapes

Panoramic views from various Mars rovers, capturing rocky terrains, operational scenes, and detailed landscapes, with a focus on exploration and scientific observation.

Rover, Airbags, & Surrounding Rocks

An artist's concept portrays a NASA Mars Exploration Rover on the surface of Mars.

Very Odd Geology on Mars Seen From Rover Opportunity

NASA's Curiosity rover used the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to capture the set of thumbnail images stitched together to create this full-color self-portrait.

Phoenix Robotic Arm connects with 'Alice'

This image of Mars was taken from the height of 33 feet (10 meters) by NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter during its sixth flight, on May 22, 2021.

NASA's Opportunity used the navigation camera (Navcam) on its mast to capture this southward facing scene along the eastern flank of 'Solander Point' during the 3,387 Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Aug. 3, 2013).

This image superimposes an artist's concept of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity atop the 'Cabo Frio' promontory on the rim of 'Victoria Crater' in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. It is done to give a sense of scale.

Radar Indicates Buried Glaciers on Mars

This mosaic view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows textural characteristics and shapes of an outcrop called 'Point Lake.' The outcrop is about 20 inches (half a meter) high and pockmarked with holes.

The straight lines in Curiosity's zigzag track marks are Morse code for JPL. The 'footprint' is an important reference mark that the rover can use to drive more precisely via a system called visual odometry.

Ready to Enter 'Endurance' (Left Eye)

An artist's concept portrays a NASA Mars Exploration Rover on the surface of Mars. Two rovers were launched in 2003 and arrived at sites on Mars in January 2004.

From its perch high on a ridge, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recorded this image of a Martian dust devil twisting through the valley below.

Heading for Humphrey

Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet

AS15-85-11363 (31 July 1971) --- A 70mm handheld Hasselblad was aimed through the viewing port of the Apollo 15 Lunar Module (LM) to record this image of the lunar surface in the vicinity of the Hadley-Apennine landing site. Later, astronauts David R. Scott, commander, and James B. Irwin, lunar module pilot, made the mission's first moon walk. The pair had descended from lunar orbit in the LM to explore the moon while astronaut Alfred M. Worden, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) in lunar orbit.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this stereo view of the rover's surroundings on the 958th sol, or Martian day, of its surface mission (Oct. 4, 2006)

Movement from Spirit's Third Extrication Drive

Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet

Spirit Spies Its Shadow

The descent stage holding NASA's Perseverance rover can be seen falling through the Martian atmosphere, its parachute trailing behind, in this image taken on Feb. 18, 2021, by the High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The ancient river delta, which is the target of the Perseverance mission, can be seen entering Jezero Crater from the left. HiRISE was approximately 435 miles (700 kilometers) from Perseverance and traveling at about 6750 mile per hour (3 kilometers per second) at the time the image was taken. The extreme distance and high speeds of the two spacecraft were challenging conditions that required precise timing and for Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to both pitch upward and roll hard to the left so that Perseverance was viewable by HiRISE at just the right moment.

Debris Kicked Up By Impact of A Protective Cover from Viking Lander 1

No Shortcut for Opportunity

Almost There! (left eye)

A partial view of the deck of NASA's InSight lander, where it stands on the Martian plains Elysium Planitia. The color-calibrated image was received on Dec. 4, 2018 (Sol 8). InSight's robotic arm with its stowed grapple can be seen above the deck, and jutting out from the front of the deck is one of the boxy attitude control system thrusters that helped control the spacecraft's landing. The circular silver inset of the propellant tank can also be seen in the middle of the image, as well as one of the connections for the aeroshell and parachute, which looks like a cupholder in the foreground. Next to the propellant tank is the UHF antenna, which helps the lander communicate with Earth. In the background, part of one of InSight's solar panels is visible.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter is seen here in a close-up taken by Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras aboard the Perseverance rover. This image was taken on April 5, the 45th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The mosaic is not white balanced but is instead displayed in a preliminary calibrated version of a natural color composite, approximately simulating the colors of the scene that we would see if we were there viewing it ourselves. Arizona State University in Tempe leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (Eur

Lahontan Crater Looms

This false color image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is of the outcrop on the 'Murray Ridge' portion of the rim of Endeavour Crater as the rover approached the 10th anniversary of its landing on Mars.

This image from NASA's Perseverance rover shows the agency's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter right after it successfully completed a high-speed spin-up test. It was captured by the Mastcam-Z instrument on Perseverance on April 16, 2021 (the 55th sol, or Martian day, of the rover's mission). The image has been slightly processed (stretched and cropped). The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages this technology demonstration project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA's Ames Research Center and Langley Research Center provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity's development. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human explor

Ready to Enter 'Endurance' (Right Eye)

Lahontan Crater Looms (right eye)

Spirit is Out the Gate

The Curiosity engineering team created this cylindrical projection view from images taken by NASA's Curiosity rover front hazard avoidance cameras underneath the rover deck on Sol 0. Pictured here are are the 'pigeon-toed' the wheels.

Pathfinder's Rover, Airbags, & Martian Terrain

This image is one of two images which documents very slight forward movement of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during a drive on the rover's 2,090th Martian day, or sol (Nov. 19, 2009).

The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover includes temperature and humidity sensors mounted on the rover's mast. One of the REMS booms extends to the left from the mast in this view.

Phoenix's Robotic Arm Scoop and Solar Panel

Riding the Rim of 'Endurance'

North View from Sojourner - Right Eye

A shadow and wheel tracks of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity appear in this image taken by a rear hazard avoidance camera (hazcam) just after a drive on a slope above Endeavour Crater on March 22, 2016.

First Panoramic View From The Surface Of Mars

A Well-Traveled 'Eagle Crater' (left-eye)

AS15-82-11057 (2 Aug. 1971) --- The Lunar Module (LM) Falcon is photographed against the barren lunarscape during the third Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Hadley-Apennine landing site on the lunar nearside. This view is looking southeast. The Apennine Front is in the left background; and Hadley Delta Mountain is in the right background. The object next to the United States flag is the Solar Wind Composition (SWC) experiment. Last Crater is to the right of the LM. Note bootprints and tracks of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV). The light spherical object at the top is a reflection in the lens of the camera. While astronauts David R. Scott and James B. Irwin descended in the LM to explore the moon, astronaut Alfred M. Worden remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) in lunar orbit.

Robot on surface of red planet, illustration.

Sojourner near Chimp - Left Eye

This artist's image of an imaginary camera zooming in from above shows the location of the Robotic Arm Camera on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander as it acquires an image of the scoop at the end of the arm

This anaglyph from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows 'Spirit Mound' overlooking the floor of Endeavour Crater. You need 3-D glasses to view this image.

This is one of the first images NASA's Perseverance rover sent back after touching down on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021. The view, from one of Perseverance's Hazard Cameras, is partially obscured by a dust cover. The rover's shadow can be seen at left. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. Subsequent missions, currently under consideration by NASA in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these cached samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The dark, smooth-surfaced object at the center of this Oct. 30, 2016, image from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover was examined with laser pulses and confirmed to be an iron-nickel meteorite.

. Curiosity Looks Over the Hill. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its navigation cameras to capture this scene after making a detour around the toughest climb it has ever faced. After the rover struggled to crest a 23-degree slope covered with slippery sand and wheel-sized rocks, the mission decided to drive about 492 feet (150 meters) to a location where the slope was below 15 degrees, and there were fewer rocks and less sand. This mosaic shows the view ahead as the rover began to ascend the area that was less challenging.

One View, Two Craters

Mars Rover

This mosaic of images shows the soil in front of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit after a series of short backward drives during attempts to extricate the rover from a sand trap in January and early February 2010.

A lone astronaut looks up at the sun while exploring Mars.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured this view of a portion of Endeavour crater's rim after a drive on Aug. 4, 2011 to reach 'Spirit Point,' the chosen arrival site.

This is the first 360-degree panorama taken by Mastcam-Z, a zoomable pair of cameras aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. The panorama was stitched together on Earth from 142 individual images taken on Sol 3, the third Martian day of the mission (Feb. 21, 2021). Annotated versions of this panorama include a scale bar and close-ups of rock features seen in the distance. A detail shot from the top of the panorama shows the rim of Jezero Crater, Perseverance's landing site. Arizona State University in Tempe leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA mission

Close-up of a space travel vehicle on a landscape, Mars Rover

The robotic arm on NASA's Mars InSight lander moves in place over the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) and opens the fingers of its grapple in this series of images from June 1, 2019. Using the robotic arm, InSight engineers are preparing to lift the HP3 support structure -- the black device with four footpads pressed into the soil -- from where it was placed a few months ago on Mars. The instrument's self-hammering mole is partially buried beneath it. Engineers hope that by moving the support structure, they can use the robotic arm to help the mole dig deeper into the soil and take the temperature of Mars. Movie available at

This narrated animation shows NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars and how the rover's SuperCam laser instrument works. SuperCam is led by Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where the instrument's Body Unit was developed. That part of the instrument includes several spectrometers, control electronics and software. The Mast Unit was developed and built by several laboratories of the CNRS (French research center) and French universities under the contracting authority of CNES (French space agency). Calibration targets on the rover deck are provided by Spain's University of Valladolid. Animation available at

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter achieves powered, controlled flight for the first time on another planet, hovering for several seconds before touching back down on April 19, 2021. The image was taken by the left Navigation Camera, or Navcam, aboard the agency's Perseverance Mars rover from a distance of 210 feet (64 meters). A short movie was also recorded and can be downloaded here as a GIF. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages this technology demonstration project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA's Ames Research Center and Langley Research Center provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity's development. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology

Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet Copyright: xZoonar.com/StanislavxRishnyakx 14238596

NASA's Curiosity rover captured its highest-resolution panorama yet of the Martian surface between Nov. 24 and Dec. 1, 2019. A version without the rover contains nearly 1.8 billion pixels; a version with the rover contains nearly 650 million pixels. Both versions are composed of more than 1,000 images that were carefully assembled over the following months. The rover's Mast Camera, or Mastcam, used its telephoto lens to produce the panorama and relied on its medium-angle lens to produce a lower-resolution panorama that includes the rover's deck and robotic arm.

This view of 'Bookshelf Two' was produced by combining the 'Super Panorama' frames from the IMP camera from NASA's Mars Pathfinder lander. 3D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail.

Phoenix Carries Soil to Wet Chemistry Lab

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to capture this view of a northward-facing outcrop, 'Greeley Haven,' where the rover will work during its fifth Martian winter.

95-degree Position on Mars

Spirit 360-Degree View, Sol 388

This image shows an artist's concept of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander snapping a picture of its arm, then transitions to the actual picture of the arm in its stowed configuration, with its biobarrier unpeeled.

Mars exploration, conceptual illustration

Of Craters and Erosion: Opportunity Examines Beagle

360-degree b/w Monster

Many prominent rocks near the Sagan Memorial Station are featured in this image, from NASA's Mars Pathfinder. Wedge is at lower left; Shark, Half-Dome, and Pumpkin are at center. 3-D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail.

Mini Matterhorn is a 3/4 meter rock immediately east-southeast of the Mars Pathfinder lander. This view was produced by combining the 'Super Panorama' frames from the IMP camera.

Opportunity's 'Olympia' Panorama

Opportunity View During Exploration in 'Duck Bay,' Sols 1506-1510

360-degree Color Panorama

Layers of 'Cabo Frio' in 'Victoria Crater' (False Color)

This image from NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover's arm extended for examination of a target called 'Onaping' at the base of an outcrop called 'Copper Cliff' in the Matijevic Hill area of the west rim of Endeavour Crater.

Dusty Solar Panels on Spirit

From its landing site, Octavia E. Butler Landing, NASA's Perseverance rover can see a remnant of a fan-shaped deposit of sediments known as a delta with its Mastcam-Z instrument. Scientists believe this delta is what remains of the confluence between an ancient river and a lake at Mars' Jezero Crater. The delta remnant is the raised area of dark brown rock in the middle ground this image acquired on Feb. 22, 2021. An annotated version of the image shows a scale bar for 30 feet (10 meters). The delta remnant is about 1.4 miles (2.3 kilometers) to the west of the Perseverance landing site. The visible portion of the remnant is about 660 feet (200 meters) across. In the foreground is a boulder about 6 feet (2 meters) across that is about 425 feet (130 meters) from the rover. The image colors portray an estimate of the natural color of each scene, or approximately what the scene would look like if we viewed it with human eyes. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiol

'Serpent' Scuff

Viking 1 on the Martian surface on July 24, 1976. The sky has a red cast, due to reddish dust in the lower atmosphere.

Close-up view of a meteorite on Mars known as Oilean Ruaidh, taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The science team used two tools on Opportunity's arm, the microscopic imager and the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, to inspect the rock's texture and composition. Information from the spectrometer confirmed that the rock is a nickel-iron meteorite. This view, presented in approximately true color, combines component images taken through three Pancam filters admitting wavelengths of 6

Spirit Self-Portrait, Sols 329-330

Oppotunity Mars exploring the surface of red planet. Opportunity Mars exploring the surface of red planet

Meridiani Planum in View

'Mini Matterhorn' is a 3/4 meter rock immediately east-southeast of NASA's Mars Pathfinder lander. 3D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail.

This is an image of a camera pushing through NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Stereo Surface Imager (SSI).

This anaglyph view of 'Shark' was produced by NASA's Mars Pathfinder's Imager camera. 3D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail.

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this view of layered, flaky rocks believed to have formed in an ancient streambed or small pond. The six images that make up this mosaic were captured using Curiosity's Mast Camera, or Mastcam, on June 2, 2022, the 3,492nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

This view enhanced view from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity looks back at the southern end of 'Cape Tribulation' from about two football fields' distance away.

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.

NASA's Mars Pathfinder's forward rover ramp can be seen successfully unfurled in this image, taken in stereo by the Imager camera. 3-D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail.

This Picasso-like self portrait of NASA's Curiosity rover was taken by its Navigation cameras, located on the now-upright mast. The camera snapped pictures 360-degrees around the rover, while pointing down at the rover deck, up and straight ahead.

This is an illustration showing a simulated view of NASA's InSight lander about to land on the surface of Mars. This view shows the underside of the spacecraft.

This view is a polar projection that combines more than 500 exposures taken by the Surface Stereo Imager camera on NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander and projects them as if looking down from above.

Spacecraft landing on planet, illustration

Trench Excavated By Viking 1 Surface Sampler

Perseverance's Radar Imager for Mars' Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX) uses radar waves to probe the ground, revealing the unexplored world that lies beneath the Martian surface. The first ground-penetrating radar set on the surface of Mars, RIMFAX can provide a highly detailed view of subsurface structures down to at least 30 feet (10 meters) underground. In doing so, the instrument will reveal hidden layers of geology and help find clues to past environments on Mars, especially those with conditions necessary for supporting life.

Perseverance rover, illustration

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