The Target

Target Locked!

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Right on Target

Target: Tethys

Target Lock

Right on Target-2

Right on Target-3

Phoenix Color Targets

Step 1: Choose a Target

Next Target for Rover

Target of Opportunity to the South

Opportunity Spies Its Target

Karatepe: An Approachable Target

Targeting a Hematite-rich Terrain

Second Titan Targeted Flyby #3

CRISM First Targeted Observation of Mars

Second Titan Targeted Flyby #1

Targeted Color Imaging: Degas Crater

Second Titan Targeted Flyby #2

Targeted Observations Reveal Unprecedented Detail

S66-32139 (1 June 1966) --- An Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA) atop an Atlas launch vehicle is launched from Kennedy Space Center's Pad 14 at 10 a.m., June 1, 1966. The ATDA is a rendezvous and docking vehicle for the Gemini-9A space mission. Photo credit: NASA

This summer, with sea ice across the Arctic Ocean shrinking to below-average levels, a NASA airborne survey of polar ice just completed its first flights. Its target: aquamarine pools of melt water on the ice surface that may be accelerating the overall sea ice retreat. NASA’s Operation IceBridge completed the first research flight of its new 2016 Arctic summer campaign on July 13. The science flights, which continue through July 25, are collecting data on sea ice in a year following a record-warm winter in the Arctic. Read more: <a href="http://go.nasa.gov/29T6mxc" rel="nofollow">go.nasa.gov/29T6mxc</a> Caption: A large pool of melt water over sea ice, as seen from an Operation IceBridge flight over the Beaufort Sea on July 14, 2016. During this summer campaign, IceBridge will map the extent, frequency and depth of melt ponds like these to help scientists forecast the Arctic sea ice yearly minimum extent in September. Credit: NASA/Operation IceBridge

Palenque Rock: Tempting Target, Poor Location

On Target for Mercury Flyby 3 - Two Weeks To Go!

S66-25774 (16 March 1966) --- The Agena Target Docking vehicle seen from the Gemini-8 spacecraft during rendezvous in space. The Agena is approximately 1,000 feet away from the nose of the spacecraft (lower left). Photo credit: NASA

By providing a set of base measurements that were taken on Earth, this calibration target will help fine-tune the settings on the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument carried aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. There are 10 kinds of materials on SHERLOC's calibration target, including a fragment of a Martian meteorite and five of the first spacesuit materials sent to Mars. They'll be observed to see how they hold up in the intense radiation on the Martian surface. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23980

S66-25778 (16 March 1966) --? The Agena Target Docking Vehicle seen from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration?s Gemini-8 spacecraft during rendezvous in space. The Agena is approximately 260 feet away from the nose of the spacecraft (lower left). Crewmen for the Gemini-8 mission are astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, command pilot, and David R. Scott, pilot. Photo credit: NASA

S66-54656 (13 Sept. 1966) --- Nose of Gemini-11 spacecraft and Agena Target Vehicle while docked as photographed by astronaut Richard F. Gordon Jr., pilot, during his stand-up extravehicular activity (EVA). Taken with a modified 70mm Hasselblad camera, using Eastman Kodak, Ektachrome, MS (S.O. 368) color film. Photo credit: NASA

AS11-36-5365 (21 July 1969) --- A close-up view of the docking target on the Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM) photographed from the Command Module during the LM/CSM docking in lunar orbit. Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, in the LM, were returning from the lunar surface. Astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) in lunar orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin explored the moon.

S66-25784 (16 March 1966) --? The Agena Target Docking Vehicle seen from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration?s Gemini adapter of the Agena is approximately two feet from the nose of the spacecraft (lower left). Crewmen for the Gemini-8 mission were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, command pilot, and David R. Scott, pilot. Photo credit: NASA

This topography map illustrates where NASA Phoenix Mars Lander was targeted to land on May 25, 2008, based on expectations as of noon pacific time 3 p.m. eastern time, May 24, 2008.

As landing technology improves and these landing ellipses shrink, missions can aim for more precise landings, opening up new areas of Mars to explore. Perseverance takes it two steps further than previous missions. First, it uses a new algorithm to time its parachute deployment based on distance to its target rather than vehicle velocity. This shrinks the landing ellipse to 4.8 miles by 4.1 miles (7.7 kilometers by 6.6 kilometers). Second, the rover uses maps stored in its memory to avoid landing hazards within that smaller ellipse during its propulsive descent phase. This allows Perseverance to target safe landing locations within Jezero Crater. The rover is set to land on Feb. 18, 2021. Improvements in interplanetary navigation tightened the landing ellipse of Mars Pathfinder in comparison with missions before it. It landed by bouncing on the surface with airbags, and has the largest ellipse in this image, measuring 124.3 miles by 43.5 miles (200 by 70 kilometers). The Phoenix and InSight landers used retrorockets to land on three legs, but still had large possible landing areas about 80.8 miles (130 kilometers) long. In 2012, the Curiosity team developed guided entry technology, shrinking its landing ellipse further. The spacecraft used small rockets to steer itself through the atmosphere as it headed toward Gale Crater. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24349

At left is NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. The annotation shows where spacesuit materials can be found attached to a calibration target for SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals), one of the rover's instruments. At right is a close-up of the calibration target. Scientists rely on calibration targets to fine-tune instrument settings using materials with known properties. In the case of SHERLOC's calibration target, they are also studying how the five swatches of spacesuit materials arranged along the bottom row degrade in the Martian environment. Those materials, from left to right: a piece of polycarbonate visor used in spacesuit helmets; Vectran, a cut-resistant material used for the palms of astronaut gloves; a commonly used spacesuit material called Ortho-Fabric; and two kinds of Teflon, which has dust-repelling nonstick properties. Top row, left to right: two gallium nitride targets that glow different colors when illuminated with SHERLOC's laser; a slice of Martian meteorite named Sayh al Uhaymir 008 (SaH 008); a maze designed to focus SHERLOC's camera; and a diffuse transmission target that measures how SHERLOC's laser scatters light. This image was taken by the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera, which is part of SHERLOC on the end of Perseverance's robotic arm. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. NASA's Mars Sample Return Program, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), is designed to send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program (MEP) portfolio and the agency's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26520

Comet Tempel 1 as seen by the NASA Deep Impact impactor targeting sensor at 7:44 Universal Time, July 3, 2005.

This image shows the calibration target for the Chemistry and Camera instrument on NASA Curiosity rover before it was installed on the rover and readied for launch.

The penny in this image is part of a camera calibration target on NASA Mars rover Curiosity. The MAHLI camera on the rover took this image of the MAHLI calibration target during the 34th Martian day of Curiosity work on Mars, Sept. 9, 2012.

Cumberland has been selected as the second target for drilling by NASA Mars rover Curiosity. The rover has the capability to collect powdered material from inside the target rock and analyze that powder with laboratory instruments.

This map shows the location of Cumberland, the second rock-drilling target for NASA Mars rover Curiosity, in relation to the rover first drilling target, John Klein, within the southwestern lobe of a shallow depression called Yellowknife Bay.

This set of images illustrates the twin cameras of the Mastcam instrument on NASA Curiosity Mars rover upper left, the Mastcam calibration target lower center, and the locations of the cameras and target on the rover.

During pre-flight testing, the Mars Hand Lens Imager MAHLI camera on NASA Mars rover Curiosity took this image of the MAHLI calibration target from a distance of 3.94 inches 10 centimeters away from the target.

Using the JMars targeting software, eighth grade students from Charleston Middle School in Charleston, IL, selected the location of -8.37N and 276.66E for capture by the THEMIS visible camera during Mars Odyssey sixth orbit of Mars on Nov. 22, 2005

NASA scientist Trevor Graff peers at a calibration target, which will help fine-tune settings on the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument carried aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. The calibration target is housed inside a special environmental chamber that was used to ship it from NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, to the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where the target was added to the rover. There are 10 kinds of materials on SHERLOC's calibration target, including a fragment of a Martian meteorite and five of the first spacesuit materials sent to Mars. They'll be observed to see how they hold up in the intense radiation on the Martian surface. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23979

The primary calibration target for Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover, features color swatches used by scientists to fine-tune the cameras' settings. The object in the center, known as a shadow post, helps scientists check the color of the sky to calibrate for lighting conditions. Symbols and mottos relevant to the mission are included around the target's perimeter: (clockwise from top) a fern; an Apatosaurus; a man and woman raising their hands in greeting (a nod to plaques carried aboard Pioneer 10 and 11, as well as the Golden Record aboard Voyagers 1 and 2); a rocket traveling from Earth (blue dot) to Mars (red dot); a motto reading "Two Worlds, One Beginning," in reference to the idea of Earth and the Red Planet growing out of the same proto-stellar dust; a model of the inner solar system; a DNA helix; and cyanobacteria, one of the earliest forms of life on Earth. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24178

S66-46124 (18 July 1966) --- Agena Target Docking Vehicle 5005 is photographed from the Gemini-10 spacecraft during rendezvous in space. The two spacecraft are about 41 feet apart. After docking with the Agena, astronauts John W. Young, command pilot, and Michael Collins, pilot, fired the 16,000-pound thrust engine of Agena-10's primary propulsion system to boost the combined vehicles into an orbit with an apogee of 413 nautical miles to set a new altitude record for manned spaceflight. Photo credit: NASA

For scale, the Lincoln penny on the MAHLI calibration target is three-fourths inch 19 millimeters in diameter. The calibration target is mounted on NASA Mars rover Curiosity.

S65-52015 (1965) --- The Gemini-6 spacecraft (right) and the Agena Target Vehicle (left) on the Boresite Range Tower for the Plan-X docking exercise. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration

This image from NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover arm extended for examination of a target called Onaping at the base of an outcrop called Copper Cliff in the Matijevic Hill area of the west rim of Endeavour Crater.

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.

S66-37923 (3 June 1966) --- The Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA) as seen from the Gemini-9 spacecraft during one of their three rendezvous in space. The ATDA and Gemini-9 spacecraft are 66.5 feet apart. Failure of the docking adapter protective cover to fully separate on the ATDA prevented the docking of the two spacecraft. The ATDA was described by the Gemini-9 crew as an "angry alligator." Photo credit: NASA

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover autonomously selects some of the targets for the laser and telescopic camera of the rover's Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument. For example, on-board software analyzed the image on the left, chose the target highlighted with the yellow dot, and pointed ChemCam to acquire laser analysis and the image on the right. Most ChemCam targets are still selected by scientists discussing rocks or soil seen in images the rover has sent to Earth, but the autonomous targeting provides an added capability. It can offer a head start on acquiring composition information at a location just reached by a drive. The software for target selection and instrument pointing is called AEGIS, for Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science. The image on the left was taken by the left eye of Curiosity's stereo Navigation Camera (Navcam) a few minutes after the rover completed a drive of about 43 feet (13 meters) on July 14, 2016, during the 1,400th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars. Using AEGIS for target selection and pointing based on the Navcam imagery, Curiosity's ChemCam zapped a grid of nine points on a rock chosen for meeting criteria set by the science team. In this run, parameters were set to find bright-toned outcrop rock rather than darker rocks, which in this area tend to be loose on the surface. Within less than 30 minutes after the Navcam image was taken, ChemCam had used its laser on all nine points and had taken before-and-after images of the target area with its remote micro-imager (RMI) camera. The image at right combines those two RMI exposures. The nine laser targets are marked in red at the center. On the Navcam image at left, the yellow dot identifies the selected target area, which is about 2.2 inches (5.6 centimeters) in diameter. An unannotated version of this Sol 1400 Navcam image is available. ChemCam records spectra of glowing plasma generated when the laser hits a target point. These spectra provide information about the chemical elements present in the target. The light-toned patch of bedrock identified by AEGIS on Sol 1400 appears, geochemically, to belong to the "Stimson" sandstone unit of lower Mount Sharp. In mid-2016, Curiosity typically uses AEGIS for selecting a ChemCam target more than once per week. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20762

A camera calibration target sits on the deck of the NASA's InSight lander, adorned with the flags of the countries participating in the mission. The target, which will be viewed by InSight's cameras, provides a variety of colors and shapes to help calibrate the lander's cameras. It also shows off international flags representing the agencies, institutions and participating scientists of the mission as of late 2014 (since that time, Italy has contributed an experiment). In the second row are the United States flag and the logos of NASA, the French space agency CNES, which provided InSight's seismometer; and the German Aerospace Center DLR, which provided InSight's heat flow probe. Below the target in the photo is an Italian experiment called the Laser Retroreflector for InSight (LaRRI). LaRRI is the small, copper-colored dome covered with circles just below the calibration target; it won't actually play a role in InSight's mission. The national space agency of Italy (ASI, for Agenzia Spaziale Italiana) provided LaRRI to be used by a possible future Mars orbiter mission with a laser altimeter making extremely precise measurements of the lander's location for fundamental physics studies and precision cartography. A microchip bearing the names of nearly a million members of the public is visible in this image to the right of the calibration target. A second microchip with more than a million additional names was added after this photo was taken. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22540

Close-up of the Diviner solar calibration target. Diviner is one of seven instruments aboard NASA LRO Mission.

The calibration target for SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) an instrument on the end of the Perseverance Mars rover's 7-foot-long (3-meter-long) robotic arm, includes a geocaching target, spacesuit materials, and a slice of a Martian meteorite. Scientists rely on calibration targets to fine-tune instrument settings using materials with known properties. The bottom row of this target features spacesuit materials that scientists will observe to see how they react over time to the irradiated Martian atmosphere. The first sample at left is polycarbonate for use in a helmet visor; inscribed with the address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, it doubles as a geochache for the public. Other materials in the bottom row, from left: Vectran; Ortho-Fabric; Teflon; coated Teflon. Top row, from left: aluminum gallium nitride on sapphire; a quartz diffuser; a slice of Martian meteorite; a maze for testing laser intensity; a separate aluminum gallium nitride on sapphire with different properties. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24261

This image shows changes in the target landing area for Curiosity, NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover. The larger ellipse for the target area has been revised to the smaller ellipse centered nearer to the foot of Mount Sharp, inside Gale Crater.

The flat-faced rock near the center of this image is a target for contact investigation by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in early March 2015. The view is from the rover's front hazard avoidance camera on March 3, 2015, during the 3,948th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars. This camera is mounted low on the rover and has a wide-angle lens. The scene includes a shadow of the tool turret at the end of Opportunity's robotic arm. The rock includes a target called "Sergeant Charles Floyd," for the quartermaster of the Lewis and Clark expedition. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19146

Small impact craters usually have simple bowl shapes; however, when the target material has different layers of different strength, then more complicated crater shapes can emerge as shown in image captured by NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

In this Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter view of the Curiosity rover mission waypoint called the Kimberley, the red dot indicates the location of a sandstone target, Windjana, selected for close-up inspection.

The gray area in center of this image is where the Dust Removal Tool on NASA Mars rover Curiosity brushed a rock target called Wernecke. The brushing revealed dark nodules and white veins crisscrossing the light gray rock.

The drive by NASA Mars rover Curiosity during the mission 43rd Martian day ended with this rock front of the rover. The rover team has assessed it as a suitable target for the first use of Curiosity contact instruments on a rock.

Mastcam-Z, a pair of zoomable cameras aboard NASA's Perseverance rover, imaged its calibration target for the first time on Feb. 20, 2021, the second Martian day, or sol, of Perseverance's mission. Visible in this natural-color composite are the Mastcam-Z primary-color and grayscale calibration target (the colorful circular object at right foreground) as well as the camera's secondary calibration target (the small colorful L-bracket just below the primary target). The Mastcam-Z team uses these targets to calibrate images of the Martian terrain to adjust for changes in brightness and dust in the atmosphere throughout the day. The white square plate containing a grid of circular colored disks mounted farther to the aft on the rover is the calibration target for the SuperCam instrument. To the left of the image, the dusty and rocky Martian surface is visible at the Perseverance rover's landing site in Jezero crater. For more details about the Mastcam-Z calibration targets, see the article "Mars in Full Color" on the Mastcam-Z public web site, at https://mastcamz.asu.edu/mars-in-full-color. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Subsequent missions by NASA in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency) would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these cached samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24423

Launched atop an Atlas booster, the Agena target vehicle (ATV) was a spacecraft used by NASA to develop and practice orbital space rendezvous and docking techniques in preparation for the Apollo program lunar missions. This particular launch preceded the Gemini 12, which launched aboard a Titan launch vehicle one and one half hours later. The objective was for Agena and Gemini to rendezvous in space and practice docking procedures. An intermediate step between Project Mercury and the Apollo Program, the Gemini Program's major objectives were to subject two men and supporting equipment to long duration flights, to perfect rendezvous and docking with other orbiting vehicles, methods of reentry, and landing of the spacecraft.

Stitched together from five images, this mosaic shows the calibration target for the SuperCam instrument aboard NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars. The component images were taken by SuperCam's remote micro-imager (RMI) on March 1, 2, and 4, 2021 (the 11th, 12th, and 13th Martian days, or sols, of Perseverance's mission on Mars). This calibration target includes visual elements for adjusting the focus of the RMI, and various samples for the calibration of the instrument's four spectrometers. The RMI can observe dust grains as small as 4 thousandths of an inch (100 microns) on SuperCam's calibration targets on the back of the rover. The rover landed in Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021. Each image has a field of view 1 1/8 inch (2.9 centimeter) in diameter. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24491

This image provides a way to have a full-size printout of the calibration target for the Mars Hand Lens Imager MAHLI camera on NASA Mars rover Curiosity.

Taken Feb. 22, 2021, this image from the Mastcam-Z instrument on NASA's Perseverance rover shows the first target for analysis by the rover's SuperCam instrument. The target rock is approximately 29 inches (73 centimeters) across its longest axis. On the left side of the image, rocks characterized by holes partially filled with dark sands contrast with the lighter-toned, smoother texture of the rock on the right. The finer-grained Martian soil can also be seen surrounding the rocks, some of which was disturbed by the Mars 2020 mission descent stage engine plumes. The image colors portray an estimate of the natural color of each scene, or approximately what the scene would look like if we viewed it with human eyes. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24484

Combining two images, this mosaic shows a close-up view of the rock target named "Yeehgo" from the SuperCam instrument on NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars. The component images were taken by SuperCam's Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) on March 7, 2021 (the 16th Martian day, or sol, of Perseverance's mission on Mars). To be compatible with the rover's software, "Yeehgo" is an alternative spelling of "Yéigo," the Navajo word for diligent. The target is 10.9 feet (3.325 meters) from the rover. Each of the two images in the mosaic shows a field of view 2.5 inches (6.2 centimeters) in diameter. Perseverance's Navigation Cameras (Nav Cam) and Mastcam-Z instrument also took images of that area at the same time to provide multiple views of the rock target, as seen in the annotated version of this image. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust). Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24492

NASA Mars rover Curiosity drilled into this rock target, Cumberland, during the 279th Martian day, or sol, of the rover work on Mars May 19, 2013 and collected a powdered sample of material from the rock interior.

This labyrinth – with a silhouette of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes at its center – is used as a calibration target for the cameras and laser that are part of SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals), one of the instruments aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. The image was captured by the Autofocus and Context Imager on SHERLOC on May 11, 2024, the 1,147th day, or sol, of the mission, as the rover team sought to confirm it had successfully addressed an issue with a stuck lens cover. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover is also characterizing the planet's geology and past climate, which paves the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26337

During pre-flight testing in March 2011, the Mars Hand Lens Imager MAHLI camera on NASA Mars rover Curiosity took this image of the MAHLI calibration target under illumination from MAHLI two ultraviolet LEDs light emitting diodes.

This view of the calibration target for the MAHLI camera aboard NASA Mars rover Curiosity combines two images taken by that camera during Sept. 9, 2012. Part of Curiosity left-front and center wheels and a patch of Martian ground are also visible.

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover began close-up investigation of a target called "Marimba," on lower Mount Sharp, during the week preceding the fourth anniversary of the mission's dramatic sky-crane landing. The Navigation Camera (Navcam) on Curiosity's mast took this image on Aug. 2, 2016, during the 1,418th Martian day, or sol, since Curiosity landed inside Gale Crater on Aug. 6, 2012, Universal Time (Aug. 5, PDT). In this scene, the rover has extended its arm over a patch of bedrock selected as the target for rover's next drilling operation. The drilling collects rock powder for onboard laboratory analysis. The arm is positioned with the rover's wire-bristle Dust Removal Tool above the target. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20764

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

This image of the deck of NASA's InSight lander - where the camera's rectangular calibration target can be seen in the middle - was taken by the Instrument Deployment Camera during the assembly, test and launch operations phase at Lockheed Martin Space, Denver. The Instrument Deployment Camera is attached to the spacecraft's robotic arm. For more on the calibration target see https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22540. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22815

NASA Mars Exploration Rover capturde this 360-degree view near the ridgeline of Endeavour Crater western rim. The center is southeastward. Rocks on the slope to the right of center are in an outcrop area targeted for the rover to study.

This image from the front Hazcam on NASA Curiosity Mars rover shows the rover drill in place during a test of whether the rock beneath it, Bonanza King, would be an acceptable target for drilling to collect a sample.

This image from an animation shows a patch of sandstone scrubbed with the Dust Removal Tool, a wire-bristle brush, on NASA Curiosity Mars rover. This rock target is called Windjana, after a gorge in Western Australia.

This true-color image is the result of the first observation of a target selected autonomously by NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity using newly developed and uploaded software named Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science, or AEGIS.

The landing target area for Curiosity, the big rover of NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission, has been revised, reducing the area size. It also puts the center of the landing area closer to Mount Sharp.

A Martian target rock called Nova, shown here, displayed an increasing concentration of aluminum as a series of laser shots from NASA Curiosity Mars rover penetrated through dust on the rock surface.

Two instruments at the end of the robotic arm on NASA Mars rover Curiosity will use calibration targets attached to a shoulder joint of the arm. The penny is a size reference giving the public a familiar object for perceiving size on Mars easily.

This image from the Navigation Camera on NASA Curiosity Mars rover shows a sandstone slab on which the rover team has selected a target, Windjana, for close-up examination.

NASA Opportunity used newly developed and uploaded software called AEGIS, to analyze images to identify features that best matched criteria for selecting an observation target; the criteria in this image -- rocks that are larger and darker than others.

Several prominent features of Mars Pathfinder and surrounding terrain are seen in this image, taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder on July 4 (Sol 1), the spacecraft's first day on the Red Planet. Portions of a lander petal are at the lower part of the image. At the left, the mechanism for the high-gain antenna can be seen. The dark area along the right side of the image represents a portion of the low-gain antenna. The radiation calibration target is at the right. The calibration target is made up of a number of materials with well-characterized colors. The known colors of the calibration targets allow scientists to determine the true colors of the rocks and soils of Mars. Three bull's-eye rings provide a wide range of brightness for the camera, similar to a photographer's grayscale chart. In the middle of the bull's-eye is a 5-inch tall post that casts a shadow, which is distorted in this image due to its location with respect to the lander camera. A large rock is located at the near center of the image. Smaller rocks and areas of soil are strewn across the Martian terrain up to the horizon line. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00620

S66-54555 (14 Sept. 1966) --- The Gemini-11 spacecraft is docked to the Agena Target Vehicle in this photograph taken by astronaut Richard F. Gordon Jr., pilot, as he stood in the open hatch of the Gemini-11 spacecraft during his extravehicular activity (EVA). Note Agena's L-band antenna. Taken during Gemini-11's 29th revolution of Earth, using a modified 70mm Hasselblad camera, with Eastman Kodak, Ektachrome, MS (S.O. 368) color film. Photo credit: NASA

The surface of the Martian rock target in this stereo image includes small hollows with a "swallowtail" shape characteristic of some gypsum crystals, most evident in the lower left quadrant. These hollows may have resulted from the original crystallizing mineral subsequently dissolving away. The view appears three-dimensional when seen through blue-red glasses with the red lens on the left. The scene spans about 2.5 inches (6.5 centimeters). This rock target, called "Funzie," is near the southern, uphill edge of "Vera Rubin Ridge" on lower Mount Sharp. The stereo view combines two images taken from slightly different angles by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, with the camera about 4 inches (10 centimeters) above the target. Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 are the separate "right-eye" and "left-eye" images, taken on Jan. 11, 2018, during the 1,932nd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars. Right-eye and left-eye images are available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22212

This graphic shows an illustration of a prototype astronaut suit, left, along with suit samples included in the calibration target, lower right, belonging to the instrument called Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC), aboard the Perseverance rover. They are the first spacesuit materials ever sent to Mars. The spacesuit materials will be observed to see how they hold up in the intense radiation on the Martian surface. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24033

The pale rock in the upper center of this image, about the size of a human forearm, includes a target called Esperance, which was inspected by NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.

Abraded Target on Rock Champagne in Gusev Crater

Brushed Target on Rock Champagne in Gusev Crater

This 3-D view of the calibration target for the MAHLI camera aboard NASA Mars rover Curiosity was assembled from two images taken by that camera during the 34th Martian day. The camera is on the turret of tools at the end of Curiosity robotic arm.

NASA Curiosity Mars rover completed a shallow mini drill test April 29, 2014, in preparation for full-depth drilling at a rock target called Windjana. The hole results from the test is 0.63 inch across and about 0.8 inch deep.

Since landing on Mars in August 2012, NASA Curiosity Mars rover has fired the laser on its Chemistry and Camera ChemCam instrument more than 100,000 times at rock and soil targets up to about 23 feet 7 meters away.

NASA Curiosity Mars rover used the Dust Removal Tool on its robotic arm to brush aside reddish, more-oxidized dust, revealing a gray patch of less-oxidized rock material at a target called Bonanza King, visible from the rover Mastcam.

This view of a sandstone target called "Big Arm" covers an area about 1.3 inches (33 millimeters) wide in detail that shows differing shapes and colors of sand grains in the stone. Three separate images taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, at different focus settings, were combined into this focus-merge view. The Big Arm target on lower Mount Sharp is at a location near "Marias Pass" where a mudstone bedrock is in contact with overlying sandstone bedrock. MAHLI recorded the component images on May 29, 2015, during the 999th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars. The rounded shape of some grains visible here suggests they traveled long distances before becoming part of the sediment that later hardened into sandstone. Other grains are more angular and may have originated closer to the rock's current location. Lighter and darker grains may have different compositions. MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19677

This image from the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows detailed texture of a rock target called "Elk" on Mars' Mount Sharp, revealing laminations that are present in much of the Murray Formation geological unit of lower Mount Sharp. Researchers also used ChemCam's laser and spectrometers to assess Elk's composition and found it to be rich in silica. The image covers a patch of rock surface about 2.8 inches (7 centimeters) across. It was taken on May 22, 2015, during the mission's 992nd Martian day, or sol. ChemCam's Remote Micro-Imager camera, on top of Curiosity's mast, captured the image from a distance of about 9 feet (2.75 meters). Annotations in red identify five points on Elk that were hit with ChemCam's laser. Each of the highlighted points is a location where ChemCam fired its laser 30 times to ablate a tiny amount of target material. By analyzing the light emitted from this laser-ablation, researchers can deduce the composition of that point. For some purposes, composition is presented as a combination of the information from multiple points on the same rock. However, using the points individually can track fine-scale variations in targets. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20267

This is an artist’s impression of a Kuiper Belt object (KBO), located on the outer rim of our solar system at a staggering distance of 4 billion miles from the Sun. A HST survey uncovered three KBOs that are potentially reachable by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft after it passes by Pluto in mid-2015. Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI) --- Peering out to the dim, outer reaches of our solar system, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered three Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) the agency’s New Horizons spacecraft could potentially visit after it flies by Pluto in July 2015. The KBOs were detected through a dedicated Hubble observing program by a New Horizons search team that was awarded telescope time for this purpose. “This has been a very challenging search and it’s great that in the end Hubble could accomplish a detection – one NASA mission helping another,” said Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado, principal investigator of the New Horizons mission. The Kuiper Belt is a vast rim of primordial debris encircling our solar system. KBOs belong to a unique class of solar system objects that has never been visited by spacecraft and which contain clues to the origin of our solar system. The KBOs Hubble found are each about 10 times larger than typical comets, but only about 1-2 percent of the size of Pluto. Unlike asteroids, KBOs have not been heated by the sun and are thought to represent a pristine, well preserved deep-freeze sample of what the outer solar system was like following its birth 4.6 billion years ago. The KBOs found in the Hubble data are thought to be the building blocks of dwarf planets such as Pluto. Read more: <a href="http://1.usa.gov/1vzUcyK" rel="nofollow">1.usa.gov/1vzUcyK</a> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Landsat satellites collect data along a wide ground track that spans 185 kilometers (115 miles) but with a spatial resolution that allows them to see the human signature on the landscape. Each Landsat pixel covers a 30 by 30 meter area (98 by 98 feet), about the size of a baseball diamond. This visualization shows the Landsat path over Minneapolis, the site of the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star game, and then zooms in to reveal the individual pixels. The green of the field and the white of the stadium are visible, before fading to an aerial photograph taken March 2010. See close up of stadium here: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/14662019381/in/photostream/">www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/14662019381/in/photostream/</a> Credit: NASA/Goddard/Landsat <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagram.com/nasagoddard?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Illumination in this image comes from MAHLI two ultraviolet LEDs, which emit light in a waveband centered at a wavelength of 365 nanometers in this image of a calibration target on NASA Mars rover Curiosity.

This image is the result of the first observation of a target selected autonomously by NASA Opportunity using newly developed and uploaded software called AEGIS. The false color makes some differences between materials easier to see.

This view from ASA Curiosity Mars rover shows a swath of bedrock called Alexander Hills, which the rover approached for close-up inspection of selected targets. It is a mosaic of six frames taken on Nov. 23, 2014.