Mars Rover Landscapes

Black and white panoramas depicting Martian terrain featuring rocky landscapes, hills, and craters, captured by NASA's rovers, showcasing the planet's desolate beauty.

'Bonneville' and Beyond

'Bonneville' and Beyond

A Closer Look at the 'Columbia Hills'

This 360-degree mosaic of images from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the view from the western rim of 'Santa Maria' crater. South is at the center, north at both ends.

NASA's Mars rover Opportunity captured this view southward just after completing a 338-foot (103-meter) southward drive, in reverse, on Aug. 10, 2014. The foreground of this view from the rover's Navcam includes the rear portion of the rover's deck.

In the upper central portion of this image is a patch of ground paler than its surroundings as seen by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity after reaching the top of a rise called 'Panorama Point.'

Spirit Looks Back on Sol 332

Next Target for Rover

This image from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, taken on April 3, 2014, includes a bright spot near the upper left corner. Possible explanations include a glint from a rock or a cosmic-ray hit.

The view from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity covers a full 360 degrees, centered toward the south, with north at both the left and right ends. Nearer the horizon is a sand dune at a location called 'Dingo Gap'.

Spirit Moves in on 'Columbia Hills'

Near 'Endurance' on Sol 115

The two donut-shaped tracks make an infinity symbol, and mark the first two drives of NASA's Curiosity rover.

Spirit Spies Wavy Bedforms

The Meteorology Instrument on Viking Lander 1

Airbag Retraction

Spirit Has Flower Power

'Columbia Hills' at Last! (Left Eye)

Spirit Back at Work

Airbag Deflates on Mars

Soft Rock Yields Clues to Mars' Past

Morning on Chryse Planitia - Viking Lander 1 Camera 2 Mosaic

Three bite marks left in the Martian ground by the scoop on the robotic arm of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity are visible in this image. Each of the three bites is about 2 inches (5 centimeters) wide.

This false color image from NASA's rover Opportunity takes a look at Matijevic Hill, an area within the 'Cape York' segment of Endeavour's rim where clay minerals have been detected from orbit.

Spirit's View on Sol 142 (Left Eye)

Close-up of Moe

Spirit's View on Sol 399

Gusev's Rim Revealed

Stretched View Showing 'Beagle Crater'

Viking Lander 2's First Picture On The Surface Of Mars

This full-resolution image shows part of the deck of NASA's Curiosity rover taken from one of the rover's Navigation cameras looking toward the back left of the rover.

Entering Endurance

Curiosity's Close-Up of Rocks in Paraitepuy Pass. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture geologic details within Paraitepuy Pass, a sandy, hill-lined area the rover traversed to reach the sulfate-bearing unit in August 2022. In the this scene is a hill nicknamed Orinoco within the sulfate region, and upper Mount Sharp in the distance. This image was taken on Aug. 15, 2022, the 3,564rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This scene is made up of three individual images that were stitched together once they were sent back to Earth. The color has been adjusted to match the lighting conditions as the human eye would perceive them on Earth.

First Panoramic View From The Surface Of Mars

Opportunity's View on Sols 1803 and 1804

The pale rocks in the foreground of this Aug. 14, 2014, image from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover include the 'Bonanza King' target under consideration to become the fourth rock drilled by the rover.

Rover Team Decides: Safety First

The Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this mosaic as it explored the clay-bearing unit on Feb. 3, 2019 (Sol 2309). This landscape includes the rocky landmark nicknamed Knockfarril Hill (center right) and the edge of Vera Rubin Ridge, which runs along the top of the scene. Made of many individual images, this mosaic includes a variety of geological features, such as several kinds of bedrock and sand. The clay-bearing unit has been an important scientific destination since before Curiosity launched. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spied a strong clay signal in this region, indicating that water may have played a role in its formation. On its long trek since landing in 2012, Curiosity has discovered many examples of mudstones containing clay minerals. The scene is presented with a color adjustment that approximates white balancing to resemble how the rocks and sand would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth.

Yogi and Rover Tracks

This mosaic image shows part of the left side of NASA's Curiosity rover and two blast marks from the descent stage's rocket engines. The rim of Gale Crater is the lighter colored band across the horizon. The back of the rover is to the left.

Potato-size Rock in Spirit's Wheel Well

Lahontan Crater Looms (left eye)

An outcrop visible as light-toned streaks in the lower center of this image has been chosen as a place for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity to study for a few days in September 2013.

This image from the Navigation Camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a sandstone slab on which the rover team has selected a target, 'Windjana,' for close-up examination.

$NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture this mound of rock nicknamed East Cliffs on May 7, 2022, the 3,466th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The mound, on Mount Sharp, has a number of naturally occurring open fractures - including one roughly 12 inches (30 centimeters) tall and 16 inches (40 centimeters) wide, similar in size to a dog door. These kinds of open fractures are common in bedrock, both on Earth and on Mars. Curiosity is currently investigating a region on Mount Sharp that may hold evidence of a major change from wetter to drier conditions in Mars' early history. The main panorama included here was stitched together using 113 images from Mastcam's left lens. The image is processed to approximate the color and brightness of the scene as it would look to the human eye under normal daytime conditions on Earth.$

This set of images shows the movement of the rear right wheel of NASA's Curiosity as rover drivers turned the wheels in place at the landing site on Mars.

Spirit Self-motivates

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured this view of a wee crater, informally named 'Skylab,' along the rover's route. Based on the estimated age of the area's sand ripples, the crater was likely formed within the past 100,000 years.

Sand Dunes And Large Rocks Revealed By Camera 1

This 360-degree panorama shows evidence of a successful first test drive for NASA's Curiosity rover; the rover made its first move, going forward about 15 feet (4.5 meters), rotating 120 degrees and then reversing about 8 feet (2.5 meters).

Southern Half of Spirit's 'Bonestell' Panorama

Spirit Sol 154, Driving By

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity observed this outcrop on the 'Murray Ridge' portion of the rim of Endeavour Crater as the rover approached the 10th anniversary of its landing on Mars.

The Ground Beneath Phoenix's Feet

High-Resolution Mosaic - Mars Rocky Horizon

Cape Verde

Possible Meteorites in the Martian Hills

Ejected Shroud on the Martian Surface

Sojourner Rover View of Shark and Half

Impediment to Spirit Drive on Sol 1806

The flat-topped rock, informally named 'Tisdale 2,' just below the center of this raw image from the rover Opportunity's panoramic camera was chosen by the rover team in August 2011 as a stop for inspecting with tools on Opportunity's robotic arm.

Sojourner, Wedge, & Shark

Before the Dust Settled

Phoenix Footpad Up Close

A chapter of the layered geological history of Mars is laid bare in this postcard from NASA's Curiosity rover. The image shows the base of Mount Sharp, the rover's eventual science destination.

'Palenque' Rock: Tempting Target, Poor Location

This small ridge, about 3 feet long, appears to resist wind erosion more than the flatter plates around it. Such differences are among the traits NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is examining at selected rock targets at the base of Mount Sharp.

This image taken by NASA's Curiosity rover shows track marks from a successful drive to the scour mark known as Goulburn, an area of bedrock exposed by thrusters on the rover's descent stage.

Sojourner Doing a Wheelie on Wedge - Right Eye

Clouds Roll in for Martian Winter

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recorded this view of the summit of 'Cape Tribulation,' on the western rim of Endeavour Crater on the day before the rover drove to the top.

This panorama combining images taken on Feb. 10, 2014, by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover looks back to where the rover crossed a dune at 'Dingo Gap' four days earlier. The view is centered toward the east and spans about 225 degrees.

This 3D 360-degree panorama assembled from images taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exporation Rover Opportunity. The Sol 3000 site is near the northern tip of the Cape York segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera (Navcam) to record this image of the northern end of 'Solander Point,' a raised section of the western rim of Endeavour Crater.

This image is one of two frames showing NASA's Spirit driving backward as next technique for attempting to extricate the rover from the sand trap where it is embedded. Go to the Photojournal for the animation.

In this image from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover looking up the ramp at the northeastern end of 'Hidden Valley,' a pale outcrop including drilling target 'Bonanza King' is at the center of the scene.

Martian Arctic Dust Devil, Phoenix Sol 104

This image from the navigation camera on the mast of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows streaks of dust or sand on the vehicle's rear solar panel after a series of drives during which the rover was pointed steeply uphill.

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has driven within robotic-arm's reach of the sandstone slab at the center of this view.

Taking a Deeper Look

This image shows two locations in Mars's Jezero Crater where NASA's Perseverance rover collected rock samples for possible return to Earth in the future Wildcat Ridge (lower left) and Skinner Ridge (upper right). These two outcrops are within about 70 feet (20 meters) of each other. The rover cored two cylinders of rock the size of classroom chalk (about 0.5 inches, or 13 millimeters, in diameter and 2.4 inches, or 60 millimeters, long) from each location. The two sites are in the delta, a fan-shaped area where, billions of years ago, a river once flowed into a lake in Jezero Crater and deposited rocks and sediment. Scientists consider the sedimentary rocks preserved in the delta one of the best places on Mars to search for potential signs of ancient microbial life. The verification of ancient life on Mars carries an enormous burden of proof. A light-colored, circular patch of abraded rock can be seen in the lower-left corner of the image, next to areas where Perseverance used its dril

This stereo scene combines frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the 1,891st Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission on Mars (April 28, 2009). You will need 3-D glasses to view this image.

Half

This view results from the first observation of a target selected autonomously by a spacecraft on Mars. Mars Exploration Rover.

This true-color image is the result of the first observation of a target selected autonomously by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity using newly developed and uploaded software named Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science, or AEGIS.

This 360-degree panorama of a location called Teal Ridge was captured on Mars by the Mast Camera, or Mastcam, on NASA's Curiosity rover on June 18, 2019, the 2,440th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. By driving up the side of Teal Ridge, the rover was able to reach rocks from the second of three subunits within the clay-bearing unit that are exposed in a valley-like region of Mount Sharp, which Curiosity is ascending. The scene is presented with a color adjustment that approximates white balancing to resemble how the rocks and sand would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images that have been combined into this stereo, full-circle view of the rover's surroundings on March 10, 2009. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

Lunar surface of Earths moon. Apollo 14.

AS15-90-12187 (31 July-2 Aug. 1971) --- This view, looking generally north, shows the tall Mount Hadley in the left background. The photograph was taken from the slope of Hadley Delta during Apollo 15 extravehicular activity (EVA). The crewmen of Apollo 15 noted the visible layering feature of the mountain. Note boulder in foreground. Mount Hadley rises approximately 14,765 feet (about 4,500 meters) above the plain.

Opportunity Stretches Out

Opportunity Approaches the Bowl of Beagle Crater (False Color)

Spirit Solar Panel on Sol 1813, Still Very Dusty

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity drove about 12 feet on May 8, 2012, after spending 19 weeks working in one place while solar power was too low for driving during the Martian winter.

This view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a site where two different types of bedrock meet on lower Mount Sharp.

This image shows a close-up of track marks left by NASA's Curiosity rover. Holes in the rover's wheels, seen here in this view, leave imprints in the tracks that can be used to help the rover drive more accurately. The imprint is Morse code for JPL.

This scene shows NASA's Curiosity Mars rover at a location called 'Windjana,' where the rover found rocks containing manganese-oxide minerals.

North View from Sojourner - Left Eye

Along Endurance Crater's Inner Wall (Left Eye)

Sojourner's APXS at Shark

View of 'Cape St. Mary' from 'Cape Verde' (False Color)

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