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Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read
Sols 4536-4538: Dusty Martian Magnets
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image, used to inspect the magnet on its MAHLI (Mars Hand Lens Imager), a camera on the turret of tools at the end of the rover’s robotic arm. The main purpose of Curiosity’s MAHLI camera is to acquire close-up, high-resolution views of rocks and regolith in the field; it can focus on any target from about 0.8 inches (2.1 centimeters) to infinity. Curiosity used its Mast Camera (Mastcam) on Sept. 1, 2024 — Sol 4291, or Martian day 4,291 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 05:48:14 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Written by Remington Free, Operations Systems Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Earth planning date: Friday, May 9, 2025
I was on downlink today for SA-SPaH, our robotic arm team. We successfully completed a number of fun arm activities, including a DRT brushing and APXS observations of a bedrock target, and also completed a traverse of about 25 meters (about 82 feet). Exciting!
Today, our uplink team planned three sols of activities. On Sol 4536, we are using the arm to do some inspection imaging of the MAHLI magnet using Mastcam. This magnet allows us to determine whether or not the MAHLI cover has successfully opened or closed. These magnets accumulate a lot of Martian dust particles, so we periodically take imaging to inspect the quantity of dust and get a better understanding of the state of the hardware. I’ve included above an image of the MAHLI instrument, from our last inspection on Sol 4291. After the magnet inspection, we’ll do some more typical arm activities, which include some APXS placements, DRT brushing, and MAHLI imaging on targets of interest.
In this workspace, we are interested in targets characterizing the pale layered sulfate unit we’ve been driving on, as well as a target in the new ridge-forming unit. Beyond our arm activities, we’ll do additional science observations of the surface using Mastcam and ChemCam.
On Sol 4537, we’ll focus on driving! Prior to our drive, we’ll take some more scientific observations, including a Navcam cloud movie, Mastcam documentation of some geological units, and ChemCam LIBS on a ridge-forming unit. We have then planned a 21-meter drive (about 69 feet) to take us to a bedrock area of scientific interest. We’re excited because the terrain looks pretty benign, so we’re hoping it all goes smoothly!
Post-drive, we’ll take some Mastcam survey imaging of clasts and soils along the traverse. Finally on Sol 4538, we’ll aim our focus upwards and take a number of observations of the sky. We’ll start with a Navcam large dust-devil survey, a Mastcam tau measurement of the atmospheric optical depth, and a ChemCam passive sky observation to study atmospheric composition. Early the following morning, we’ll take some additional Navcam observations of clouds, and complete another Mastcam tau measurement of optical depth.
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Last Updated May 13, 2025 Related Terms
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This picture of Mars is a composite of several images captured by Europa Clipper’s thermal imager on March 1. Bright regions are relatively warm, with temperatures of about 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius). Darker areas are colder. The darkest region at the top is the northern polar cap and is about minus 190 F (minus 125 C).NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU Headed for Jupiter’s moon Europa, the spacecraft did some sightseeing, using a flyby of Mars to calibrate its infrared imaging instrument.
On its recent swing by Mars, NASA’s Europa Clipper took the opportunity to capture infrared images of the Red Planet. The data will help mission scientists calibrate the spacecraft’s thermal imaging instrument so they can be sure it’s operating correctly when Europa Clipper arrives at the Jupiter system in 2030.
The mission’s sights are set on Jupiter’s moon Europa and the global ocean hidden under its icy surface. A year after slipping into orbit around Jupiter, Europa Clipper will begin a series of 49 close flybys of the moon to investigate whether it holds conditions suitable for life.
A key element of that investigation will be thermal imaging — global scans of Europa that map temperatures to shed light on how active the surface is. Infrared imaging will reveal how much heat is being emitted from the moon; warmer areas of the ice give off more energy and indicate recent activity.
The imaging also will tell scientists where the ocean is closest to the surface. Europa is crisscrossed by dramatic ridges and fractures, which scientists believe are caused by ocean convection pulling apart the icy crust and water rising up to fill the gaps.
This picture of Mars is a colorized composite of several images captured by Europa Clipper’s thermal imager. Warm colors represent relatively warm temperatures; red areas are about 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius), and purple regions are about minus 190 F (minus 125 C).NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU “We want to measure the temperature of those features,” said Arizona State University’s Phil Christensen, principal investigator of Europa Clipper’s infrared camera, called the Europa Thermal Imaging System (E-THEMIS). “If Europa is a really active place, those fractures will be warmer than the surrounding ice where the ocean comes close to the surface. Or if water erupted onto the surface hundreds to thousands of years ago, then those surfaces could still be relatively warm.”
Why Mars
On March 1, Europa Clipper flew just 550 miles (884 kilometers) above the surface of Mars in order to use the planet’s gravitational pull to reshape the spacecraft’s trajectory. Ultimately, the assist will get the mission to Jupiter faster than if it made a beeline for the gas giant, but the flyby also offered a critical opportunity for Europa Clipper to test E-THEMIS.
For about 18 minutes on March 1, the instrument captured one image per second, yielding more than a thousand grayscale pictures that were transmitted to Earth starting on May 5. After compiling these images into a global snapshot of Mars, scientists applied color, using hues with familiar associations: Warm areas are depicted in red, while colder areas are shown as blue.
By comparing E-THEMIS images with those made from established Mars data, scientists can judge how well the instrument is working.
“We wanted no surprises in these new images,” Christensen said. “The goal was to capture imagery of a planetary body we know extraordinarily well and make sure the dataset looks exactly the way it should, based on 20 years of instruments documenting Mars.”
NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter, launched in 2001, carries a sister instrument named THEMIS that has been capturing its own thermal images of the Red Planet for decades. To be extra thorough, the Odyssey team collected thermal images of Mars before, during, and after Europa Clipper’s flyby so that Europa scientists can compare the visuals as an additional gauge of how well E-THEMIS is calibrated.
Europa Clipper also took advantage of the close proximity to Mars to test all the components of its radar instrument in unison for the first time. The radar antennas and the wavelengths they produce are so long that it wasn’t possible for engineers to can do that in a clean room before launch. The radar data will be returned and analyzed in the coming weeks and months, but preliminary assessments of the real-time telemetry indicate that the test went well.
To leverage the flyby even further, the science team took the opportunity to ensure that the spacecraft’s telecommunication equipment will be able to conduct gravity experiments at Europa. By transmitting signals to Earth while passing through Mars’ gravity field, they were able to confirm that a similar operation is expected to work at Europa.
Europa Clipper launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 14, 2024, via a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, embarking on a 1.8 billion-mile (2.9 billion-kilometer) journey to Jupiter, which is five times farther from the Sun than Earth is. Now that the probe has harnessed the gravity of Mars, its next gravity assist will be from Earth in 2026.
More About Europa Clipper
Europa Clipper’s three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed the main spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA Marshall executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at NASA Kennedy, managed the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft.
Find more information about Europa Clipper here:
News Media Contacts
Gretchen McCartney
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-287-4115
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Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
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Last Updated May 12, 2025 Related Terms
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Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 3 min read
Sols 4525-4526: The Day After Groundhog Day (Between Ghost Mountain and Texoli, Headed South)
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image showing ChemCam/Mastcam targets “Breeze Hill” and “Laguna Mountain,” together with a rover wheel planted firmly on the Martian surface. Curiosity captured the image using its Left Navigation Camera on April 27, 2025 — Sol 4523, or Martian day 4,523 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 13:23:32 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Lucy Lim, Planetary Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Earth planning date: Monday, April 28, 2025
Curiosity is back on the road! For sols 4525 and 4526, we have an isolated nominal plan in which the communication pass timing works out in such a way that the rover can fit in fully targeted science blocks on both sols rather than just the first sol. So in this power-hungry Martian winter season, we’re in a good position to take advantage of the power saved up during the missed uplink.
The weekend drive went well and delivered the rover into a stable, arm-work-compatible position in a workspace with rock targets that we could brush with the DRT. Happy days! The DRT/APXS/MAHLI measurements will bring us geochemical and rock texture data from local bedrock blocks “Bradshaw Trail” and “Sweetwater River.” Further geochemical information will come from the ChemCam LIBS rasters on a more coarsely layered target, “Breeze Hill,” and an exposed layer expressing both polygonal features and a vein or coating of dark-toned material, “Laguna Mountain.”
Long-distance imaging with the ChemCam RMI included a mosaic to add to our coverage of the boxwork sedimentary features of the type Curiosity will soon be exploring in situ. A second RMI mosaic was planned to cover a truncated sedimentary horizon on the Texoli butte that may provide further evidence of ancient aeolian scouring events. Meanwhile, the “Morrell Potrero” Mastcam mosaic will provide some detail on the base of the boxwork-bearing “Ghost Mountain” butte and on a ridge nearby. In the drive direction, the “Garnet Peak” mosaic will capture some potentially new rock textures and colors in the upcoming strata.
Nearer-field imaging in the plan includes Mastcam documentation of some troughs that provide evidence for sand and dust movement in response to the modern aeolian environment. Additionally Mastcam mosaics went to “Breeze Hill” (covering the LIBS target) and “Live Oak” to document variations in bedding, color, and texture in the nearby bedrock.
A few observations of the modern environment were scheduled for the afternoon: a phase function sky survey to look for scattered light from thin water-ice clouds and a separate set of cloud altitude observations.
Finally, a Mastcam documentation image was planned for the AEGIS LIBS target from the weekend plan! This reflects an update to the rover’s capability in which the AEGIS target can be determined and downlinked in time for the decisional downlink pass, so that we know where to look for it during the next planning cycle.
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Last Updated Apr 30, 2025 Related Terms
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Gary Laier, center liaison for the Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, teaches students about aeronautics during Aero Fair at Tropico Middle School in Rosamond, California, on April 9, 2025.NASA/Genaro Vavuris When curiosity takes flight, learning knows no bounds. The impact of supporting STEM education extends far beyond the classroom, shaping the future of innovation and exploration. NASA Engages is the agency’s outreach website that connects NASA experts and resources with communities, educators, and students across the country. Led by NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, the platform fosters collaboration between educators, organizations, and NASA employees to inspire the next generation.
Giovanna Camacho, Pathways systems engineering intern from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, teaches students about aeronautics during Aero Fair at Tropico Middle School in Rosamond, California, on April 9, 2025.NASA/Genaro Vavuris Bringing NASA to the Classroom
NASA employees dedicate their time and expertise through NASA Engages, whether they’re passionate about robotics, flight research, or inspiring young minds to pursue STEM careers. One example of this is Aero Fair, a STEM program led by the California Office of STEM Engagement at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. This initiative brings aeronautics directly to students, with NASA Armstrong professionals visiting classrooms – both in person and virtually – to engage students during three-day experiences that allow them to learn about aeronautics, meet NASA professionals, and explore potential career paths they might not have previously considered.
“When volunteers step up to help inspire and facilitate learning in the classroom, they are benefiting not only the students they interact with, but our future generation as well,” says Giovanna Camacho, Pathways systems engineering intern at NASA Armstrong, who volunteered at the event.
Chloe Day, a student at Tropico Middle School in Rosamond, California, said Aero Fair inspired her to consider a STEM career. “When NASA employees were talking about what they do and how they help our world today, it made me feel like I want to do it too.”
Educators can request an Aero Fair experience through NASA’s STEM Gateway. These programs “give students a chance to see themselves as real problem-solvers and innovators,” said Shauna Tinich, a Tropico Middle School teacher. “The most beneficial part of Aero Fair is the real-world connection to STEM. The connection to NASA makes it real and exciting for the students.”
Students from Tropico Middle School in Rosamond, California, build their own paper planes as part of a project during NASA Aero Fair on April 9, 2025.NASA/Genaro Vavuris A Program for Impact
The NASA Engages website matches outreach opportunities to employee skills and interests, while educators and community organizations can use the website to request public speakers, classroom visits, and educational support at events.
For many volunteers, the experience is just as inspiring as it is for the students. “Every time I volunteer, I walk out inspired,” Camacho said. “It motivates me to continue my pursuit of making a difference.”
Gary Laier, center liaison for the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs at NASA Armstrong, and Aero Fair volunteer, agreed: “It’s a rewarding experience for students, teachers, and NASA volunteers alike. I enjoy the opportunity to inspire youth and get them excited about their futures.”
By participating in outreach activities like Aero Fair, career panels, or events, NASA employees not only help ignite curiosity and provide knowledge to students and the community but also strengthen NASA’s connection to the communities it serves.
Gary Laier, center liaison for the Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, teaches students about aeronautics during Aero Fair at Tropico Middle School in Rosamond, California, on April 9, 2025.NASA/Genaro Vavuris Explore NASA STEM Opportunities
Educators, organizations, and community groups can connect with NASA in two ways. Through NASA Engages, external groups can request NASA support for their own events – such as inviting a NASA speaker or arranging classroom visits and providing outreach materials. Meanwhile, NASA STEM Gateway provides opportunities for individuals to participate in NASA-developed STEM events, internships, and programs like Aero Fair. To request NASA participation in an event or to learn more about NASA STEM opportunities, visit https://stemgateway.nasa.gov/nasaengages/s/.
Giovanna Camacho, Pathways systems engineering intern at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, teaches students about aeronautics during Aero Fair at Tropico Middle School in Rosamond, California, on April 9, 2025.NASA/Genaro Vavuris Share
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Last Updated Apr 30, 2025 Related Terms
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NASA’s Curiosity rover appears as a dark speck in this contrast-enhanced view captured on Feb. 28, 2025, by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Trailing Curiosity are the rover’s tracks, which can linger on the Martian surface for months before being erased by the wind. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona The image marks what may be the first time one of the agency’s Mars orbiters has captured the rover driving.
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has never been camera shy, having been seen in selfies and images taken from space. But on Feb. 28 — the 4,466th Martian day, or sol, of the mission — Curiosity was captured in what is believed to be the first orbital image of the rover mid-drive across the Red Planet.
Taken by the HiRISE (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the image shows Curiosity as a dark speck at the front of a long trail of rover tracks. Likely to last for months before being erased by wind, the tracks span about 1,050 feet (320 meters). They represent roughly 11 drives starting on Feb. 2 as Curiosity trucked along at a top speed of 0.1 mph (0.16 kph) from Gediz Vallis channel on the journey to its next science stop: a region with potential boxwork formations, possibly made by groundwater billions of years ago.
How quickly the rover reaches the area depends on a number of factors, including how its software navigates the surface and how challenging the terrain is to climb. Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which leads Curiosity’s mission, work with scientists to plan each day’s trek.
“By comparing the time HiRISE took the image to the rover’s commands for the day, we can see it was nearly done with a 69-foot drive,” said Doug Ellison, Curiosity’s planning team chief at JPL.
Designed to ensure the best spatial resolution, HiRISE takes an image with the majority of the scene in black and white and a strip of color down the middle. While the camera has captured Curiosity in color before, this time the rover happened to fall within the black-and-white part of the image.
In the new image, Curiosity’s tracks lead to the base of a steep slope. The rover has since ascended that slope since then, and it is expected to reach its new science location within a month or so.
More About Curiosity and MRO
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover was built at JPL, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL manages both the Curiosity and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter missions on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of the agency’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado.
For more about the missions, visit:
science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity
science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter
News Media Contacts
Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Apr 24, 2025 Related Terms
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