Mars Science Laboratory: Curiosity Rover

Part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, at the time of launch, Curiosity was the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars at that time.

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Science
Science Instruments
Where is Curiosity?
Mars rover sitting on the red soil of mars and facing the camera for a selfie

Part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, Curiosity, was the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars when it launched in 2011. Curiosity set out to answer the question: Did Mars ever have the right environmental conditions to support small life forms called microbes? Early in its mission, Curiosity's scientific tools found chemical and mineral evidence of past habitable environments on Mars. It continues to explore the rock record from a time when Mars could have been home to microbial life.

Type

Rover

Launch / Landing

Nov. 26, 2011 /
Aug. 6, 2012

Target

Mars

Objective

Determine if Mars was ever able to support microbial life
Featured Story

NASA: New Insights into How Mars Became Uninhabitable

NASA’s Curiosity rover, currently exploring Gale crater on Mars, is providing new details about how the ancient Martian climate went…

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Artist concept image of an early wet Mars.
A 3D model of the Mars Curiosity Rover.
NASA Visualization Technology Applications and Development (VTAD)

meet curiosity

A red SUV to use as a reference for the size of the Curiosity rover

Size

About the size of a small SUV — 10 feet long, 9 feet wide and 7 feet tall), not including the arm.

Arm of the Curiosity rover from 3d rendering

Arm reach

About 7 feet (2.2 meters)

Curiosity rover 3d model

Mass/weight

1,982 lbs (899 kilograms) on Earth gravity; 743 lbs in Mars gravity (899 kilograms)

Front closeup of Curiosity rover from 3d model

Features

Geology lab, rocker-bogie suspension, rock-vaporizing laser and lots of cameras

Featured Video

Landing Site: Gale Crater

Curiosity explores Gale Crater and acquires rock, soil, and air samples for onboard analysis. The car-size rover is about as tall as a basketball player and uses a 7 foot-long arm to place tools close to rocks selected for study. Curiosity's large size allows it to carry an advanced kit of 10 science instruments. It has tools including 17 cameras, a laser to vaporize and study small pinpoint spots of rocks at a distance, and a drill to collect powdered rock samples. It hunts for special rocks that formed in water and/or have signs of organics.

The Curiosity rover has taught us a lot about the history of Mars and its potential to support life. Take a tour of its landing site, Gale Crater. Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech

Watch

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has collected 42 powderized rock samples with the drill on the end of its robotic arm. This grid shows all 42 holes made by the drill when collecting the samples.

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FEATURE IMAGE

Curiosity’s 42 Drill Holes

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has collected 42 powderized rock samples with the drill on the end of its robotic arm. This grid shows all 42 holes made by the drill when collecting the samples.
  • Curiosity Rover selfie from the surface of Mars

    Science

    Curiosity is seeking evidence of organics, the chemical building blocks of life.

  • A hole in the surface of Mars created by the Curiosity rover

    Raw Images

    View raw images sent back by Curiosity from its explorations on Mars.

  • A rover is shown in front of a bright yellow-white light.

    Resources

    Visit the one-stop-shop for all Curiosity media.

  • NASA's Curiosity Mars rover appears as a dark speck in this image captured from directly overhead by the agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO. The orbiter is equipped with a camera capable of viewing objects the size of a dinner table on the Red Planet's surface.

    Mission Updates

    Read updates provided by self-selected Mars Science Laboratory mission team members who love to share what Curiosity is doing with the public.

News and Features

All Curiosity Rover News
Article
6 min read

Christine Knudson Uses Earthly Experience to Study Martian Geology

Article
5 min read

NASA: New Insights into How Mars Became Uninhabitable

Artist concept image of an early wet Mars.
5 min read

Here’s How Curiosity’s Sky Crane Changed the Way NASA Explores Mars

Article3 months ago
A sweeping landscape gives way to hills on the colorized horizon in this artistic Mars composite image.
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UPDATED: 10 Things for Mars 10

Article4 months ago
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NASA’s Curiosity Rover Discovers a Surprise in a Martian Rock

Article4 months ago
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