Curiosity NASA Rover Images & Animated Videos

NASA has taken a bold new step in the exploration of Planet Mars with a new rover called Curiosity External link, Opens in a new window (centerpiece of the Mars Science Laboratory mission). Curiosity will seek to determine if the Red Planet ever had conditions to support life. Launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011, Curiosity carries a Canadian-made geology instrument that will enable the rover to determine the chemical composition of the rocks and soil on Mars.
The mobile lab will be equipped with ten different instruments, each with specialized capabilities to investigate different aspects of the rocks and soils or the current environment of the planet. Compiling the data from all the instruments will help scientists establish if Mars was once a more hospitable place for life.
Although recent missions led by Curiosity's predecessors have provided valuable data on the geological composition of our planetary neighbour, Curiosity will delve into Mars' environmental history in much greater detail than previous missions. This laboratory on wheels will act as a motorized field geologist and geochemist, probing and analysing the Martian surface using, among other things, its Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) provided by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The spectrometer, specially adapted and tuned for the mission, will analyse samples to help ascertain the potential habitability of Mars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curiosity Landing On Mars Landing Animation

Communicating With Curiosity 

Curiosity Bids Goodbye to Heat Shield 

Dropping in on Mars in High-Res

Curiosity Images Sent To NASA