Rover team members with the Mars Exploration Rover.

Over the Rover

The twin rovers of NASAa Mars Exploration Rover Mission pose with their groundbreaking predecessor, the flight spare of the Sojourner rover from NASA 1997 Pathfinder mission.

Two generations of Rovers.

Frost on Mars Rover Opportunity

Rover Magnets All Around

Virtual Rover on Its Own

Ring Around the Rover

Rovers Exceed 50,000 Images

Summit Panorama with Rover Deck

Virtual Rover Deploys Arm

Rover team members Kim Lichtenberg and Joseph Carsten watch motions of a test rover at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., as the rover carries out commands for driving forward with an arc toward the right.

Members of the Mars Exploration Rovers Assembly, Test and Launch Operations team gather around NASA Rover 2 and its predecessor, a flight spare of the Pathfinder mission Sojourner rover, named Marie Curie.

After commanding five of a test rover six wheels to drive forward, rover driver Paolo Bellutta left measures how much the rover moved sideways, downslope, during the maneuver.

Mars Exploration Rover MER spacecraft -- areoshell encapsulating the rover and lander plus cruise stage.

Mars Exploration Rover MER spacecraft -- areoshell encapsulating the rover and lander plus cruise stage.

Mars Exploration Rover MER spacecraft -- areoshell encapsulating the rover and lander plus cruise stage.

An artist concept portrays a NASA Mars Exploration Rover on the surface of Mars. Two rovers were launched in 2003 and arrived at sites on Mars in January 2004.

A Martian mechanic checks beneath the completely deployed NASA Rover 1 lander. Atop the lander is Rover 1 with its wheels and solar arrays in the stowed position.

Engineers and technicians at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, integrate the rover motor controller assembly (RMCA) into the Mars 2020 rover's body. The RMCA is the electrical heart of the rover's mobility and motion systems, commanding and regulating the movement of the motors in the rover's wheels, robotic arms, mast, drill and sample-handling functions. The image was taken on April 29, 2019, in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility's High Bay 1 clean room at JPL. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23194

Simulated View for Rover Activity Planning

Virtual Rover Drives Toward Rock

Rover Team Decides: Safety First

Mars Rover Studies Soil on Mars

Rover Tracks at Crater Edge

Spirit Rover on Husband Hill

The Opportunity Rover at Victoria Crater

This image presents a selection of the 23 cameras on NASA's 2020 Mars rover. Many are improved versions of the cameras on the Curiosity rover, with a few new additions as well. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22103

This mosaic of images was taken by NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during December of 2011. The accumulation of dust reduces the rover power supply, and the rover mobility is limited until the winter is over or wind cleans the panels.

Tests of possible maneuvers for use by NASA rover Spirit on Mars include use of this lightweight test rover at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

JPL engineers examine the robotic arm of NASA Mars Exploration Rover 1.

JPL engineers making adjustments to NASA Mars Exploration Rover 1.

In this view from behind a test rover at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., the rear wheels of the rover are turned toward the left, and the left-front wheel is turned toward the the right.

The Mars Exploration Rover-2 is moved to a workstand in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility.

Rock targets known as Esperance6, and Lihir, are shown in this false-color view from NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Esperance6 was deeply abraded with the rover rock abrasion tool.

This diagram shows components of the investigations payload for NASA Mars 2020 rover mission.

Rover Tracks Seen from Orbit

Rovers Get New Driving Capability

Spirit Ascent Movie, Rover-Eye View

Cable Tie on the Spirit Rover Deck, Day 1

Rover Wheel Churns Up Bright Martian Soil

This time-lapse (speeded up 28 times) shows NASA's Mars 2020 rover as it was rotated on a spin table in the clean room of the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Engineers were looking to establish the rover's center of gravity, or the point at which weight is evenly dispersed on all sides. The imagery was taken on Aug. 29, 2019. Movie available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23461

In 2007, NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity had endured a Martian dust storm and the rover team wanted to assess the dustiness of the solar panels.

NASA Rover 1 sits atop the deployed lander with its solar arrays and wheels stowed.

NASA Rover 2 equipment deck, with solar arrays partially deployed, in NASA JPL Spacecraft Assembly Facility cleanroom.

NASA Rover 1 sits atop the deployed lander with its solar arrays and wheels stowed.

NASA Rover 2 is driven over staggered ramps to test the suspension range of motion.

JPL engineers hand-deploying the solar arrays that provide the electrical power on NASA Mars Exploration Rover 1.

This image taken at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory shows a rover test drive up a manmade slope.

This 360-degree view, called the McMurdo panorama, from NASA Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, where the rover stayed on a small hill known as Low Ridge from April through October 2006.

Top center: The plate affixed to the aft crossbeam of NASA's Mars Perseverance rover — seen here on March 16, 2020, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida — carries 10,932,295 names submitted by people during NASA's "Send Your Name to Mars" campaign and essays of the 155 finalists in the "Name the Rover" contest. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23770

A self-portrait of NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity taken by the rover panoramic camera Pancam in late March 2014 shows effects of recent winds removing much of the dust from the rover solar arrays.

Mars Exploration Rover MER spacecraft. This image shows the aeroshell, which includes the backshell as well as the heatshield.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians remove one of the circuit boards on the Mars Exploration Rover 2 MER-2.

Engineers for NASA Mars Exploration Rover Mission are completing assembly and testing for the twin robotic geologists at JPL.

Engineers for NASA Mars Exploration Rover Mission are completing assembly and testing for the twin robotic geologists at JPL.

While a test rover rolls off a plywood surface into a prepared bed of soft soil, rover team members Colette Lohr left and Kim Lichtenberg center eye the wheels digging into the soil and Paolo Bellutta enters the next driving command.

Rover team members at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., on July 24, 2009, discuss the next step in preparing for a new phase in testing of possible moves for getting NASA Mars rover Spirit out of a sandtrap on Mars.

This view of a test rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, results from advance testing of arm positions and camera pointings for taking a low-angle self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. This rehearsal in California led to a dramatic Aug. 5, 2015, selfie of Curiosity, online at PIA19807. Curiosity's arm-mounted Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera took 92 of component images that were assembled into that mosaic. The rover team positioned the camera lower in relation to the rover body than for any previous full self-portrait of Curiosity. This practice version was taken at JPL's Mars Yard in July 2013, using the Vehicle System Test Bed (VSTB) rover, which has a test copy of MAHLI on its robotic arm. MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19810

This false color view, called the McMurdo panorama, from NASA Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, where the rover stayed on a small hill known as Low Ridge from April through October 2006.

In February 2015, NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is approaching a cumulative driving distance on Mars equal to the length of a marathon race. This map shows the rover position relative to where it could surpass that distance.

An artist's concept portrays a NASA Mars Exploration Rover on the surface of Mars. Two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, will reach Mars in January 2004. Each has the mobility and toolkit to function as a robotic geologist. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04928

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the lander petals of the Mars Exploration Rover 2 MER-2 have been reopened and its solar panels deployed to allow technicians access to the spacecraft to remove one of its circuit boards.

This image of NASA's Mars 2020 rover was taken on July 23, 2019 in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility's High Bay 1 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23318

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has extended its robotic arm for studying a light-toned rock target called "Athens" in this image from the rover's front hazard avoidance camera. The camera recorded this image during the 3,970th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars (March 25, 2015). This camera is mounted low on the rover and has a wide-angle lens. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19160

This image shows a screenshot from the software used by engineers to drive the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. The software simulates the rover's movements across the martian terrain, helping to plot a safe course for the rover. The virtual 3-D world around the rover is built from images taken by Spirit's stereo navigation cameras. Regions for which the rover has not yet acquired 3-D data are represented in beige. This image depicts the state of the rover before it backed up and turned 45 degrees on Sol 11 (01-13-04). http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05063

Mars Exploration Rover Landing Site at Gusev Crater

Three-Frame Movie of Opportunity Rover at Victoria Crater

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, technicians reopen the lander petals of the Mars Exploration Rover 2 MER-2 to allow access to one of the spacecraft circuit boards.

One of two Mars Exploration Rovers sits inside its cruise stage waitingto undergo environmental testing at NASA Jet PropulsionLaboratory.

NASA's Mars 2020 Project will re-use the basic engineering of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity to send a different rover to Mars, with new objectives and instruments. This artist's concept depicts the top of the 2020 rover's mast. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20760

Engineers install the SuperCam instrument on Mars 2020's rover. This image was taken on June 25, 2019, in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23307

One of two Mars Exploration Rovers sits inside its cruise stage waiting to undergo environmental testing at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

A test setup at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory enables experiments with maneuvers being considered for use by NASA Mars Exploration Rover Spirit to get Spirit out of soft soil where it has become embedded.

Rover engineers prepare a mixture of sandy and powdery materials to simulate some difficult Mars driving conditions inside a facility at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Two spacecraft engineers stand with three generations of Mars rovers developed at NASA JPL, Pasadena, Ca. Front and center is a flight spare of Sojourner, left is a working sibling to Spirit and Opportunity, right is test rover Curiosity.

Two spacecraft engineers stand with three generations of Mars rovers developed at NASA JPL, Pasadena, Ca. Front and center is a flight spare of Sojourner, left is a working sibling to Spirit and Opportunity, right is test rover Curiosity.

This grouping of two test rovers and a flight spare provides a graphic comparison of three generations of Mars rovers developed at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The setting is JPL Mars Yard testing area.

Rover Wheel Churns Up Bright Martian Soil Vertical

Comparison of a Computer Graphic Model of the Opportunity Lander and Rover with MOC Orbital Image

Shadows Draw Attention to Features of Mars Landscape Rover Tracks

Rover Wheel Churns Up Bright Martian Soil False Color

NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity obtained this view from the top of the Cape Tribulation segment of the rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover reached this point three weeks before the 11th anniversary of its January 2004 landing on Mars.

This scene from the Pancam on NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity looks back toward part of the west rim of Endeavour Crater that the rover drove along, heading southward, during the summer of 2014.

A false-color self-portrait of NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity taken by the rover panoramic camera Pancam shows effects of recent winds removing much of the dust from the solar arrays.

This false-color scene from the Pancam on NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity looks back toward part of the west rim of Endeavour Crater that the rover drove along, heading southward, during the summer of 2014.

This stereo 3D scene from the Pancam on NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity looks back toward part of the west rim of Endeavour Crater that the rover drove along, heading southward, during the summer of 2014.

Artist concept of NASA Artist concept of Mars Exploration Rover MER from December, 2002. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04240

Artist concept of NASA Artist concept of Mars Exploration Rover MER from December, 2002. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04239

In a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, engineers observed the first driving test for NASA's Mars 2020 rover on Dec. 17, 2019. Scheduled to launch as early as July 2020, the Mars 2020 mission will search for signs of past microbial life, characterize Mars' climate and geology, collect samples for future return to Earth, and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. It is scheduled to land in an area of Mars known as Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021. JPL is building and will manage operations of the Mars 2020 rover for NASA. NASA's Launch Services Program, based at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch management. For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23499

NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity caught its own silhouette in this late-afternoon image from the rover rear HAZCAM on Mar, 20, 2014; its shadow falls across a slope called McClure-Beverlin Escarpment on the western rim of Endeavour Crater.

An engineer works on attaching NASA's Mars Helicopter to the belly of the Mars 2020 rover — which has been flipped over for that purpose — on Aug. 28, 2019, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The twin-rotor, solar-powered helicopter was mechanically connected, along with the Mars Helicopter Delivery System, to a plate on the rover's belly that includes a cover to shield the helicopter from debris during entry, descent and landing. The helicopter will remain encapsulated after landing, deploying to the surface once a suitable area to conduct test flights is found at Jezero Crater, the rover's destination. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23372

The target beneath the tool turret at the end of the rover's robotic arm in this image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is "Private John Potts." It lies high on the southern side of "Marathon Valley," which slices through the western rim of Endeavour Crater. The target's informal name refers to a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition's Corps of Discovery. The image was taken by Opportunity's front hazard avoidance camera on Jan. 5, 2016, during the 4,248th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars. This camera is mounted low on the rover and has a wide-angle lens. In this image, the microscopic imager on the turret is pointed downward. Opportunity's examination of this target also used the turret's rock abrasion tool for removing the surface crust and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer for identifying chemical elements in the rock. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20285

On Feb. 11, 2020, Mars 2020 Assembly, Test and Launch Operations Manager David Gruel watched as members of his team loaded NASA's next Mars rover onto an Air Force C-17 at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California. The rover was flown to Cape Canaveral, Florida, in preparation for its July launch. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23591

Planning for NASA 2020 Mars rover envisions a basic structure that capitalizes on existing design and engineering, but with new science instruments selected through competition for accomplishing different science objectives.

Located on the arm of NASA Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer uses alpha particles and X-rays to determine the chemical make up of martian rocks and soils.

Footage from the JPL In-Situ Instruments Laboratory, or testbed, shows engineers rehearsing a crucial maneuver called egress in which NASA Mars Exploration Rover Spirit rolls off its lander platform and touches martian soil.

A concept image of a pressurized rover on the surface of the Moon. Image Credit: JAXA/Toyota

A concept image of a pressurized rover on the surface of the Moon. Image Credit: JAXA/Toyota

NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter caught this view of NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on Feb. 14, 2014. The red arrow points to Opportunity at the center of the image. Blue arrows point to tracks left by the rover in October 2013.