Mars Surface Exploration

High-resolution images of the Martian landscape, featuring unique geological formations such as dunes, craters, and chasms from NASA's Mars missions.

Wonders of Eos Chasma

Underneath Phoenix Lander 97 Sols After Touchdown

Full-Circle View from Near 'Tetl' (Polar)

This image from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows the spacecraft's robotic arm in its stowed configuration, with its biobarrier unpeeled. The arm is still folded up, with its elbow shown at upper left and its scoop at bottom right.

Aerial view of a part of the area affected during the flood disaster of 1953. Note: The description of this photo is not yet complete and will be supplemented on the basis of the data available at a later stage. However, of many photos of the flood disaster 1953, the location is unknown.

Aerial view of a part of the area affected during the flood disaster of 1953. Note: The description of this photo is not yet complete and will be supplemented on the basis of the data available at a later stage. However, of many photos of the flood disaster 1953, the location is unknown.

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

First Evidence of Jupiter Ring

View from Southwest of Victoria Crater

This stereo vista from the panoramic camera (Pancam) of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity catches 'Pillinger Point,' on the western rim of Endeavour Crater, in the foreground. You need 3-D glasses to view this image.

This image from NASA's Magellan spacecraft is from the eastern Ovda region of Venus. The image shows some small volcanic domes on the flank of the volcano Maat.

AS13-59-8501 (17 April 1970) --- This view of the severely damaged Apollo 13 Service Module (SM) was photographed from the Lunar Module/Command Module (LM/CM) following SM jettisoning. As seen here, an entire panel on the SM was blown away by the apparent explosion of oxygen tank number two located in Sector 4 of the SM. Two of the three fuel cells are visible just forward (above) the heavily damaged area. Three fuel cells, two oxygen tanks, and two hydrogen tanks are located in Sector 4. The damaged area is located above the S-Band high gain antenna. Nearest the camera is the Service Propulsion System (SPS) engine and nozzle. The damage to the SM caused the Apollo 13 crew men to use the LM as a lifeboat. The LM was jettisoned just prior to Earth re-entry by the CM.

This mosaic of images from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows surroundings of the rover's location following an 122.2-meter (401-foot) drive on Oct. 25, 2010. 3D glasses are necessary.

Panoramic View of Lander During Turn

A Year's Worth of Tracks in the Dust

This 360-degree stereo panorama assembled from images taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exporation Rover Opportunity shows terrain surrounding the position where the rover spent its 3,000th Martian day working on Mars (July 2, 2012).

Phoebe: Cartographic Projections (Mercator Projection)

South Polar Region

Opportunity at the Wall (Vertical)

This image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, the first of its kind, shows lightning on Saturn's night side flashing in a cloud that is illuminated by light from Saturn's rings.

Huygen's Landing Site

Mosaic of high-resolution images of Pluto, transmitted by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft from Sept. 5 to 7, 2015. The image is dominated by the informally-named icy plain Sputnik Planum, the smooth, bright region across the center.

This image shows part of the large dune field (or erg) that exists surrounding the north polar ice cap

The Philae lander of the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission is safely on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, as these first two images from the lander's CIVA camera confirm. One of the lander's three feet can be seen in the foreground.

As NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was making its way back toward its original entry path into 'Endurance Crater,' scientists and engineers spotted what they hoped might be a shortcut for climbing out of the crater. 3D glasses are necessary.

Mars Gusts Blow Toward Spirit

Closeup Of Hydrogen Explosion -- Here's a closeup view of the stem of the hydrogen detonation set off in the pacific in the Fall of 1952. Cloud mushrooms above the furious blast. The cloud stem pushed 25 miles upward, deep into the stratosphere. April 1, 1954. (Photo by AP Wirephoto).

The hills and troughs in this little valley, carved between a ridge and cliffs higher up Mount Sharp, almost look like undulating waves. The Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this mosaic as it explored the clay-bearing unit on Jan. 23, 2019 (Sol 2299). At the top left corner is part of the Vera Rubin Ridge, from which Curiosity departed earlier this year; the rocky hill at center left has been nicknamed Knockfarril Hill. The science team is trying to figure out how this landscape formed over billions of years. At present, the clearest takeaway is that the clay-bearing unit is softer than the ridge The former has eroded into a valley between the ridge and Mount Sharp, while the ridge has resisted erosion. 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.

This map illustrates the planned imaging coverage for the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer, onboard the European Space Agency's Huygens probe during the probe's descent toward Titan's surface on Jan. 14, 2005. The Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer is one of two NASA instruments on the probe. The colored lines delineate regions that will be imaged at different resolutions as the probe descends. On each map, the site where Huygens is predicted to land is marked with a yellow dot. This area is in a boundary between dark and bright regions. This map was made from the images taken by the Cassini spacecraft cameras on Oct. 26, 2004, at image scales of 4 to 6 kilometers (2.5 to 3.7 miles) per pixel. The images were obtained using a narrow band filter centered at 938 nanometers -- a near-infrared wavelength (invisible to the human eye) at which light can penetrate Titan's atmosphere to reach the surface and return through the atmosphere to be detected by the camera. The images have been pro

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity combined images into this stereo, 360-degree view on April 22, 2010. This site is about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) south-southwest of Victoria Crater. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

Changes near the Volcano Loki Patera on Io

Ascraeus Pits

Large Tectonic Complex

Solar Power Grid Unfurled

Opportunity's Surroundings on Sol 1798 (Vertical)

Anefo photo collection. The American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin put foot on the moon; Photo taken from the TV. Both astronauts place the American flag. July 21, 1969

jsc2011e118362 - Panorama view of Apollo 16 lunar surface photos of the Station 10 and Sample 381 Rock taken during the second moonwalk of the mission. The panoramas were built by combining Apollo 16 images starting with frame AS16-114-18450 thru end frame AS16-114-18467. The panoramic images received minimal retouching by NASA imagery specialists, including the removal of lens flares that were problematic in stitching together the individual frames and blacking out the sky to the lunar horizon. These adjustments were made based on observations of the Moon walkers who reported that there are no stars visible in the sky due to the bright lunar surface reflection of the Sun.

This 3-D stereo scene from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows part of 'Marathon Valley,' a destination on the western rim of Endeavour Crater, as seen from an overlook north of the valley.

South Polar Knob

Ice-frosted crater tops on Ganymede

The core region of the F ring is visible here, showing evidence that a population of small objects impacted the rings at the same time and caused streaks of material to emerge. The mini-jets, noted with black arrows, leave trails that extend approximately 19 miles (30 kilometers). They have the same length and orientation, showing that they were likely caused by a flock of impactors that all struck the ring at approximately the same time. This shows that the ring is shaped by streams of material that orbit Saturn itself rather than, for instance, by cometary debris moving around the Sun that happens to crash into the rings. The dashed line in the center of the image indicates where two images were spliced together. The F ring core (at bottom) is overexposed in the figure, partly to enhance the image and make the streaks visible. The figure was produced from ISS narrow-angle camera images taken July 13, 2017.

Huygens Titan Mosaic #1

360-degree Panorama of Martian Surface

This is the first dust devil that NASA's rover Opportunity has observed in the rover's six and a half years on Mars. This image has been carefully calibrated and the contrast stretched to make the dust devil easier to see against the Martian sky.

Scrutinizing Titan's Surface

This 3-D cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured on on sol 153. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

This scanning electron microscope (SEM) image revealed some of the ultrastructural features observed on the surface of a number of Acanthamoeba polyphaga protozoa. Note the amorphous nature of the organisms exterior from which the pseudopodia can extend. These pseudopodia allow the amoeba to move and grasp objects in its environment. CDC/Catherine Armbruster Margaret Williams 2009

Sojourner Rover Behind Chimp - Right Eye

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used one of its navigation cameras to take this panorama of a proposed landing site for the Mars Sample Return lander. The lander would collect rock and sediment samples that Perseverance has taken and would also serve as the launch platform for a Mars Ascent Vehicle that would blast off from Mars, delivering the samples to an orbiter as part of their journey to Earth for intensive study. Choosing an area that lacks large rocks (especially those over 7 1/2 inches, or 19 centimeters, in diameter), sand dunes, and steeply angled terrain would go a long way toward easing the path for an MSR recovery vehicle to efficiently grab tubes before heading to the lander. This panorama is made up of five images taken on April 14, 2022 (the 409th Martian day, or sol, of the mission) and stitched together back on Earth. The color has been adjusted to match the lighting conditions as the human eye would perceive them on Earth. A key objective for Perseverance's mission o

This NASA Spirit image view is toward the north, looking down at Spirit's front wheels. It is one of a series of wide-angle views shown one after the other. Go to the Photojournal to view the animation.

Jovian Dark Spot

Slow Progress in Dune (Left Rear Wheel)

Brachiopod, 1904 - 1906, by James McDonald.

Mars Particle and Terrestrial Soil, Compared Microscopically

As the last step in a series of inspections of the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) aboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, this camera's reclosable dust cover was opened for the first time on Sept. 8, 2012.

Sample material from the fourth scoop of Martian soil collected by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is on the rover's observation tray in this image taken during the mission's 78th Martian sol, (Oct. 24, 2012) by Curiosity's left Navigation Camera.

The south polar region contains a variety of features including mesas, craters, surfaces with different textures and a couple of windstreaks

This is the first image taken by NASA's InSight lander on the surface of Mars. The instrument context camera (ICC) mounted below the lander deck obtained this image on Nov. 26, 2018, shortly after landing. The transparent lens cover was still in place to protect the lens from any dust kicked up during landing.

Aerial view of a part of the area affected during the flood disaster of 1953. Note: The description of this photo is not yet complete and will be supplemented on the basis of the data available at a later stage. However, of many photos of the flood disaster 1953, the location is unknown.

Floating ice from a top-down view

The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of Noachis Terra. The large craters are unnamed, as is the channel in the center of the image. Dark blue tones in this false color image indicate basaltic sands. Orbit Number 63010 Latitude -5.56102 Longitude 2.22751 Instrument VIS Captured 2016-02-27 00 40

Phoenix's view of Mars as of the end of Sol 2

This picture from NASA's Curiosity rover puts a color view obtained by the rover in the context of a computer simulation derived from images acquired from orbiting spacecraft. The view looks north, showing the distant ridge of Gale Crater.

Phoenix Again Carries Soil to Wet Chemistry Lab

This false-color scene from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity catches 'Pillinger Point,' on the western rim of Endeavour Crater, in the foreground.

A dance-step pattern is visible in the wheel tracks near the left edge of this scene recorded by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on Mars on April 1, 2011. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity combined images into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings. Tracks from the rover's drive recede northward across dark-toned sand ripples in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. You need 3D glasses.

Gasteropod, 1904 - 1906, by James McDonald.

Fish Eye View of Horizon and Lander

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.

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander used its Robotic Arm during the mission's 15th Martian day since landing (June 9, 2008) to test a 'sprinkle' method for delivering small samples of soil to instruments on the lander deck.

This image from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows Curiosity at the 'Rocknest' site where the rover scooped up samples of windblown dust and sand.

Project 30-65 - Operation Plumbob (Nevada Test Site) Detonation. HOOD detonation: Series of 7 fireball & cloud, ground views (1 of 7). Photographs of Atmospheric Nuclear Testing at Pacific Island and Nevada Test Sites.

This image from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows Curiosity at the 'Rocknest' site where the rover scooped up samples of windblown dust and sand.

Anthe and Methone Arcs

This 360-degree panorama was taken by NASA's Mars Pathfinder. Three petals and the perimeter of the deflated airbags are seen in the foreground. 3D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail.

Aerial view of a part of the area affected during the flood disaster of 1953. Note: The description of this photo is not yet complete and will be supplemented on the basis of the data available at a later stage. However, of many photos of the flood disaster 1953, the location is unknown.

NASA's Sojourner was still latched to one of the lander's petals, waiting for the command sequence that would execute its descent off of the lander's petal. 3-D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail.

Several Dust Devils in Gusev Crater, Sol 461

This scene in enhanced color from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity looks upward at 'Knudsen Ridge' on the southern edge of 'Marathon Valley' from inside the valley.

This image, taken by NASA's Deep Space 1 on September 22, 2001, has been enhanced to reveal dust being ejected from the nucleus of comet Borrelly. As a result, the nucleus is bright white in the image.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover took the images that make up this 360-degree mosaic anaglyph highlighting Spirit's arrival at the base of the Columbia Hills. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

An albumin stereo print by Friedrich Würthle depicting Kitzloch area in Taxisbach along the Salzburg-Tiroler railway, produced between 1860 and 1874.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit obtained this stereo panorama of the surrounding Martian terrain in Gusev Crater . 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

Aerial view of a part of the area affected during the flood disaster of 1953. Note: The description of this photo is not yet complete and will be supplemented on the basis of the data available at a later stage. However, of many photos of the flood disaster 1953, the location is unknown.

This false-color vista of the Endeavour Crater rim was acquired by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera on April 18, 2014, from 'Murray Ridge' on the western rim of the crater.

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.

This MOC image shows dunes in the martian north polar region. The dunes are composed of dark, coarse sand. The white areas around the dunes are the last remaining areas of seasonal carbon dioxide frost cover

This image showing the position of the Martian moon Deimos against a background of stars is part of a successful technology demonstration completed by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter before arrival at Mars

NASA's Cassini radar data reveal the depth of a liquid methane/ethane sea on Saturn's moon Titan near the mouth of a large, flooded river valley.

In this contrast-enhanced infrared image of Bellicia Crater on the giant asteroid Vesta, scientists from NASA's Dawn mission can see signs of the mineral olivine. Olivine was not expected to be found at Bellicia.

This 360-degree image shows a complete, full-resolution panorama around NASA's Curiosity rover, taken by the Navigation cameras.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter can be seen here taking off, hovering and then landing on the Martian surface on April 19, 2021. The Mastcam-Z imager aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover shot video of the helicopter's flight. The video is presented here in side-by-side formats that have both been enhanced to show a dust plume swirling during takeoff and again on landing. The view on the left uses motion filtering to show where dust was detected during liftoff and landing and the view on the right is enhanced with the motion filtering. Scientists use this image processing to detect dust devils as they pass by Mars rovers. An additional version of the video includes a timer that counts down until liftoff and then counts up until landing. A ghostly cut-out of the helicopter is visible in each side-by-side format; that's an artifact related to the digital processing. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. T

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took this color image from an altitude of 33 feet (10 meters) during its fifth flight on May 7, 2021. This was the helicopter's first one-way flight, and it settled down at a new landing location 423 feet (129 meters) south of its previous location at Wright Brothers Field. The contrast has been enhanced to show surface details.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its panoramic camera to capture this view of a dark rock the size of a toaster that may be an iron meteorite. Part of the rim of Endurance Crater is on the horizon.

This NASA Spirit image view is toward the south, looking down at Spirit's rear wheels. It is one of a series of wide-angle views shown one after the other. Go to the Photojournal to view the animation.

This red-filter image taken by the lander's Surface Stereo Imager, shows the sun rising on the morning of sol 90, August 25, 2008, the last day of the Phoenix Mars Lander nominal mission. The image was taken at 51 minutes past midnight local solar time during the slow sunrise that followed a 75 minute night. The skylight in the image is light scattered off atmospheric dust particles and ice crystals.

AS14-68-9453 (6 Feb. 1971) --- Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, lunar module pilot, whose shadow is in the foreground, photographs a group of large boulders near the rim of Cone Crater. An interesting feature is the white and brown rock in the boulder. Mitchell removed a sample where the hammer is lying. While astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr., commander, and Mitchell descended in the Lunar Module (LM) Antares to explore the Fra Mauro region of the moon, astronaut Stuart A. Roosa, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) Kitty Hawk in lunar orbit.

This mosaic of images from the Mastcam onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows Mount Sharp in raw color. Raw color shows the scene's colors as they would look in a typical smart-phone camera photo, before any adjustment.

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