Martian Landscapes and Rovers

Images depicting the Martian surface, showcasing rover activity and panoramic views of the planet's rugged terrain in vivid colors.

Panorama of Fram Crater Taken by Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, Mars

Sunset at the Viking Lander 1 Site

Bright Summer Afternoon on the Mars Utopian Planitia

Panorama of Fram Crater Taken by Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, Mars

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used two different cameras to create this selfie in front of Mont Mercou, a rock outcrop that stands 20 feet (6 meters) tall. The panorama is made up of 60 images taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the rover's robotic arm on March 26, 2021, the 3070th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. These were combined with 11 images taken by the Mastcam on the mast, or head, of the rover on March 16, 2021, the 3,060th Martian day of the mission. The hole visible to the left of the rover is where its robotic drill sampled a rock nicknamed Nontron. The Curiosity team is nicknaming features in this part of Mars using names from the region around the village of Nontron in southwestern France.

Twin Peaks in Super Resolution - Left Eye

NASA's Mars 2020 rover will store rock and soil samples in sealed tubes on the planet's surface for future missions to retrieve, as seen in this illustration. The Mars 2020 rover, scheduled to launch in July 2020, represents the first leg of humanity's first planned round trip to another planet. NASA and the European Space Agency are solidifying concepts for a Mars sample return mission.

Annotated Version of Perseverance Selfie With Sample Tubes. NASA's Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with nine of the 10 sample tubes it deposited at a sample depot created within an area of Jezero Crater nicknamed Three Forks. This annotated version of the selfie points out the estimated locations of those nine tubes. The ninth tube dropped during the construction of the depot, containing the sample the science team refers to as Atsah, can be seen in front of the rover. Other sample tubes are visible in the background, including Skyland, which is labeled. The image was taken by the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera on the end of the rover's robotic arm on Jan. 22, 2023, the 684th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The selfie is composed of 59 individual WATSON images that were stitched together once they were sent back to Earth. The Curiosity rover takes similar selfies using a camera on its robotic arm; videos explaining how the rovers

Area of 360 Degree Color Panorama

Super Resolution View of Mini-Matterhorn

Standard Raw View of Mini-Matterhorn

Opportunity Mars exploring the surface of red planet Oppotunity Mars exploring the surface of red planet Copyright: xZoonar.com/StanislavxRishnyakx 13813213

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover 'Opportunity' recorded this image on Aug. 6, 2011. It shows west rim of Endeavour crater as scientists believe the scene would appear to humans.

Airbag Trails

Looking East to 'Tyrone'

Opportunity Mars exploring the surface of red planet Oppotunity Mars exploring the surface of red planet. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Copyright: xZoonar.com/StanislavxRishnyakx 14361534

Gusev Rocks Solidified from Lava (Approximate True Color)

This section from a panorama that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired in October 2005 from the top of 'Husband Hill' presents the view toward the south from that summit.

Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet

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.

This illustration depicts NASA's Perseverance rover operating on the surface of Mars. Perseverance will land at the Red Planet's Jezero Crater a little after 3 40 p.m. EST (12 40 p.m. PST) on Feb. 18, 2021.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter can be seen on Mars as viewed by the Perseverance rover's rear Hazard Camera on April 4, 2021, the 44th Martian day, or sol of the mission. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory built and manages operations of Perseverance and Ingenuity for the agency. Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages JPL for NASA. The Mars helicopter technology demonstration activity is supported by NASA's Science Mission Directorate, the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and the NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate. 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 (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect th

This animation shows a proposed route for NASA's Curiosity rover, which is climbing lower Mount Sharp on Mars. The annotated version of the map labels different regions that scientists working with the rover would like to explore in coming years. A flyover video explains them in more detail. Data used in creating this map came from several instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), including the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) and the Context Camera (CTX). The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) instrument on the European Space Agency's Mars Express also contributed data. Animation available at

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover spotted these finger-like rocks with its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, on May 15, 2022, the 3,474th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. These likely formed as groundwater trickled through rock in the ancient past, depositing mineral cements over time; many years later, when the rock was exposed to the atmosphere, wind eroded the softer material around the cemented portions. The rocks were found on Mount Sharp, the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain that Curiosity has been climbing since 2014.

This artist's concept of a proposed Mars sample return mission portrays a rocket-powered descent stage lowering a sample-retrieving rover and an ascent vehicle to the surface.

An elongated crater called 'Spirit of St. Louis,' with a rock spire in it, dominates this false-color image from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.

This 3-D image combines computer-generated models of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and its lander with real surface data from the rover's panoramic camera. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, landed on May 25, 2008, and explored the history of water and monitored polar climate on Mars until communications ended in November, 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the winter.

Lion King Surveys Homeland

Mastcam-Z's View of 'Franklin Cliffs'. Sedimentary layers at Franklin Cliffs are displayed in a mosaic captured by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover using its Mastcam-Z camera on Feb. 12, 2023, the 704th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The mosaic is made up of three individual images that were stitched together after being sent back from Mars. This natural color view is approximately how the scene would appear to an average person if they were on Mars. Franklin Cliffs, along with other locations like Skrinkle Haven and Pinestand may have been created as sediment built up here in an ancient river or delta. Arizona State University leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets. A key objective for

Phoenix Lander on Mars

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture this scene around a drill hole named Edinburgh. The images used to create the scene were taken on March 22 and 23, 2020, which were the 2,711th and 2,712th Martian days, or sols, of the mission. The scene was captured while Curiosity was parked on top of a feature called the Greenheugh Pediment. Looming above in the background is the top of Mount Sharp, the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain that Curiosity has been ascending since 2014. The color balance of the scene was processed to reflect the way it would look to the human eye under daytime lighting on Earth.

This frame from an animation shows NASA's Phoenix Lander's Robotic Arm scoop delivering a sample to the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer (TEGA) and how samples are analyzed within the instrument.

This artist's concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life.

Planet surface, illustration.

Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras aboard NASA's Perseverance rover, imaged its calibration target for the first time on Feb. 20, 2021, the second Martian day, or sol, of Perseverance's mission. Visible in this natural-color composite are the Mastcam-Z primary-color and grayscale calibration target (the colorful circular object at right foreground) as well as the camera's secondary calibration target (the small colorful L-bracket just below the primary target). The Mastcam-Z team uses these targets to calibrate images of the Martian terrain to adjust for changes in brightness and dust in the atmosphere throughout the day. The white square plate containing a grid of circular colored disks mounted farther to the aft on the rover is the calibration target for the SuperCam instrument. To the left of the image, the dusty and rocky Martian surface is visible at the Perseverance rover's landing site in Jezero crater. For more details about the Mastcam-Z calibration targets, see the article

This rock encountered by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is an iron meteorite called 'Lebanon,' similar in shape and luster to iron meteorites found on Mars by the previous generation of rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.

In the center foreground, NASA's Curiosity rover's arm holds the tool turret above a target called Wernecke on the John

Artwork on astronauts on the Red Planet, Mars, some time in the future.

Discovery Served Up in a Bowl

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. This picture is an artist's concept portraying what the advanced rover would look like in Martian terrain, from a side aft ang

Spacecraft over Mars, computer illustration.

Mars exploration, conceptual computer artwork.

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover viewed these rocks using its Mastcam-Z imager on April 27, 2021, the 66th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Stitched together from 21 images, this mosaic is not white balanced; instead, it is displayed in a preliminary calibrated version of a natural-color composite, approximately simulating the colors of the scene as it would appear on Mars. For scale, the largest piece of rock casting a shadow in the upper right part of the mosaic is about 11 inches (27 centimeters) across, and the entire scene is about 10 feet (3 meters) across. The smallest pebbles and other features that can reliably be resolved at this zoom scale are around 0.04 to 0.08 inches (1-2 millimeters) across. The scene was also captured in enhanced color (Figure 1) as well as a color anaglyph made for viewing through red-blue 3D glasses (Figure 2). Arizona State University in Tempe leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science System

Aerial View of Mars' Landscape

'Hamersley' : Not Quite Like 'Eagle Crater'

Phoenix Scoop Inverted Showing Rasp

Twin Peaks of Mars in Super Resolution, from Viking Orbiter

Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Copyright: xZoonar.com/StanislavxRishnyakx 14600953

This is an artist's interpretation of the area surrounding the landing site

'Castell Henllys' From Above. This color-enhanced image of the Castell Henllys region in Jezero Crater was taken by NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during the rotorcraft's 48th flight on March 21, 2023, the 741st Martian day, or sol, of the Perseverance rover's mission. At the time the image was taken, the helicopter was at an altitude of about 40 feet (12 meters). This image and others taken during the flight provided advanced reconnaissance to Perseverance scientists and planners roughly two weeks before the rover reached this area. https //photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25890

This vista from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows 'Wdowiak Ridge,' from left foreground to center, as part of a northward look with the rover's tracks visible at right.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took this color image during its fourth flight, on April 30, 2021. Airfield B, its new landing site, can be seen below. The helicopter will seek to set down there on its fifth flight attempt. An unannotated version of the image has also been provided.

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

Lander, Airbags, & Martian Terrain

Images taken by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Surface Stereo Imager, combined into a panoramic view looking north from the lander.

'Larry's Outcrop' in False Color

. Curiosity's View Back Toward 'Marker Band Valley'. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover looks back down at Marker Band Valley after climbing a steep slope. This mosaic, made of five images that were stitched together after being sent to Earth, was captured by the rover's Mastcam on June 21, 2023, the 3,865th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The color has been adjusted to match lighting conditions as the human eye would see them on Earth. Curiosity struggled to climb a 23-degree slope that had slippery sand and wheel-size boulders. These three factors - the incline, the sand, and the large boulders - combined to make this Curiosity's toughest climb yet.

old rusted metal well in desert old rusted metal well in desert Copyright: xZoonar.com/StanislavxRishnyakx 16374787

Lengthy detective work from data collected by NASA's rover Spirit confirmed that an outcrop called 'Comanche' contains a mineral indicating that a past environment was wet and non-acidic, possibly favorable to life.

The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is dwarfed by the desolate Martian desert in Gusev Crater as she makes steady progress towards the distant Columbia Hills.

Opportunity Mars exploring the surface of red planet Oppotunity Mars exploring the surface of red planet Copyright: xZoonar.com/StanislavxRishnyakx 14238561

This image was taken during the first drive of NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars on March 4, 2021. Perseverance landed on Feb. 18, 2021, and the team has been spending the weeks since landing checking out the rover to prepare for surface operations. This image was taken by the rover's Navigation Cameras. 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 (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help pr

. Curiosity's View up a Challenging Slope. NASA's Curiosity captured this view of a slope with a steep incline, slippery sand, and wheel-size boulders - factors that together made it the most difficult climb of the rover's mission. This 360-degree mosaic is made up of 145 images that were stitched together after being sent back to Earth from Mars. The mosaic was captured by Curiosity's Mastcam on June 27, 2023, the 3,871st Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The color has been adjusted to match lighting conditions as the human eye would see them on Earth.

Astronaut on Mars Surface. Red Planet Covered in Gas and rock Astronaut on Mars Surface. Red Planet Covered in Gas and rock Copyright: xZoonar.com/StanislavxRishnyakx 16447572

Mastcam-Z Views Perseverance's Depot in the Distance. The location where NASA's Perseverance will begin depositing its first cache of samples is shown in this image taken by the Mars rover on Dec. 14, 2022, the 646th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This enhanced color image was taken by the rover's Mastcam-Z camera and is not representative of the way the scene would look to the human eye. 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 (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon

This set of images shows parts of the robotic arm on NASA's Perseverance rover flexing and turning during its first checkout after landing on Mars. These images were taken by Perseverance's Navigation Cameras on March 3, 2021. 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 (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Movie available at

Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet. Elements of this image furnished by NASA.. Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet

Icy, Patterned Ground on Mars

Artist's concept of NASA's Artist's concept of Mars Exploration Rover (MER) from December, 2002.

'Everest' Panorama; 20-20 Vision

Perseverance rover, illustration

Curiosity Finds a Meteorite, 'Cacao'. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this image of an iron-nickel meteorite nicknamed Cacao on Jan, 28, 2023, the 3,725th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This meteorite, discovered in the sulfate-bearing unit, a region on Mars' Mount Sharp, is estimated to be about 1 foot (30 centimeters) across. It's one of several meteorites Curiosity has seen while exploring Mars. Curiosity's Mast Camera, or Mastcam, took the panorama with its 100-millimeter focal length lens. The panorama is made up of 19 individual images that were stitched together after being sent to Earth. The color has been adjusted to match lighting conditions as the human eye would perceive them on Earth. https //photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25737

In this illustration, NASA's Mars 2020 rover uses its drill to core a rock sample on Mars. Scheduled to launch in July 2020, the Mars 2020 rover represents the first leg of humanity's first round trip to another planet. The rover will collect and store rock and soil samples on the planet's surface that future missions will retrieve and return to Earth. NASA and the European Space Agency are solidifying concepts for a Mars sample return mission.

Dark dunes march along the floor of Gale Crater, resting on the lower reaches of the crater's central mound

old rusted metal well in desert

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter recently surveyed a ridgeline near the ancient river delta in Mars' Jezero Crater at request of the Perseverance rover's science team. On the left is the full image Ingenuity acquired of the ridgeline on April 23, 2022, during its 27th flight. The science team calls the line of rocky outcrops running from the upper left to middle right of the main image Fortun Ridge. Enlarged at right is a close-up of one of the ridgeline's rocky outcrops. This portion of Jezero Crater is of interest to the science team because of the clear exposure of the rocky outcrops that define the boundary between two abutting crater floor geologic units, Séítah and Máaz. The geology of both units is thought to be of igneous (volcanic) origin.

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured evidence of rock layers that built up as windblown sand accumulated in some areas and was scoured away in others in the ancient past. This panorama, made up of nine individual images that were later stitched together, was captured at a location nicknamed Las Claritas using Curiosity's Mast Camera, or Mastcam, on May 19, 2022, the 3,478th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

Fantastic martian landscape in rusty orange shades

astronauts explore a barren moon on a rover.

Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Copyright: xZoonar.com/StanislavxRishnyakx 16000572

Phoenix Mars2 lander

Curiosity Mars rover, computer artwork.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter unlocked its rotor blades, allowing them to spin freely, on April 7, 2021, the 47th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. They had been held in place since before launch, and the unlocking is one of several milestones that must be met before the helicopter can attempt the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. This image was captured by the Mastcam-Z imager on NASA's Perseverance Mars rover on the following sol, April 8, 2021. 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 o

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity found this image of a meteorite. 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.

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter can be seen on the belly of the Perseverance rover on March 26, 2021, the 36th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The helicopter's launch lock, which holds it in place on the rover, has been released. This image was taken by the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera on the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) instrument, located at the end of the rover's long robotic arm. Animations available at

This image is from a series of test images to calibrate the 100-millimeter Mast Camera on NASA's Curiosity rover, looking south-southwest from the rover's landing site.

Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet Copyright: xZoonar.com/StanislavxRishnyakx 14238614

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover snapped this view of a hill in Mars' Jezero Crater called Santa Cruz on April 29, 2021, the 68th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. About 20 inches (50 centimeters) across on average, the boulders in the foreground are among the type of rocks the rover team has named Ch'al (the Navajo term for frog and pronounced chesh ). Perseverance will return to the area in the next week or so. Composed of multiple images, this enhanced-color mosaic was created using the left- and right-eye views of Perseverance's Mastcam-Z camera system, merging the scene into a single, wider view. Santa Cruz hill is a possible eroded remnant of Jezero Crater's western delta. The hill is about 164 feet (50 meters) tall and was roughly 1.6 miles (2.5 kilometers) east of the rover when the photo was taken, viewed from Van Zyl Overlook. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will character

Martian Meteorite Oilean Ruaidh

Sunset on Mars catches NASA's Mars Science Laboratory in the foreground in this artist's concept. The mission is under development for launch in 2009 and a precision landing on Mars in 2010.

This image from Sol 1 shows a mosaic of NASA's Mars Phoenix digging area in the Martian terrain. Phoenix scientists were very pleased with this view as the terrain features few rocks -- an optimal place for digging.

S87-35313 (15 May 1987)--- This artist's rendering illustrates a Mars Sample Return mission under study at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). As currently envisioned, the spacecraft would be launched in the mid to late 1990's into Earth-orbit by a space shuttle, released from the shuttle's cargo bay and propelled toward Mars by an upper-stage engine. A lander (left background) would separate from an orbiting vehicle (upper right) and descend to the planet's surface. The lander's payload would include a robotic rover (foreground), which would spend a year moving about the Martian terrain collecting scientifically significant rock and soil samples. The rover would then return to the lander and transfer its samples to a small rocket that would carry them into orbit and rendezvous with the orbiter for a return to Earth. As depicted here the rover consists of three two-wheeled cabs, and is fitted with a stereo camera vision system and tool-equipped arms

Artist rendition of the InSight (Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) Lander.

Digital Art by Jae Park Mars Exploraton composite art showing AEF and CELSS (background art courtesy of Boeing)

Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet Curiosity Mars Rover exploring the surface of red planet. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Copyright: xZoonar.com/StanislavxRishnyakx 14601025

This image shows how NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander stays in contact with Earth.

Curiosity Mars rover, computer artwork.

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