Spaceflight Insider

News Archive / Tagged: Curiosity

  • Curiosity mission team operates rover from home

    Jim SharkeyMay 13th, 2020

    While the majority of scientists and engineers who work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California are currently off-site, that doesn’t mean that their work supporting interplanetary missions has ground to a halt.

  • Curiosity rover marks seven years of Martian exploration

    Laurel KornfeldAugust 9th, 2019

    Seven years after successfully completing a difficult landing maneuver onto the floor of Mars' Gale Crater, NASA's Curiosity rover continues to make pioneering discoveries on the Red Planet.

  • MRO captures photo of Curiosity rover from Martian orbit

    Laurel KornfeldJuly 13th, 2019

    NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured an image of the Curiosity rover in a photo of Mount Sharp's Woodland Bay region taken from orbit on May 31, 2019.

  • Is Mars undergoing Global Warming? Data from Curiosity suggests it might be

    Laurel KornfeldJune 28th, 2019

    Using its Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) tunable laser spectrometer, NASA's Curiosity rover has detected the highest concentration of methane  ever found in the Martian atmosphere, in the Teal Ridge region of Gale Crater.

  • Curiosity rover team maps route up Mount Sharp

    Jim SharkeyMay 18th, 2019

    Since landing on the Red Planet in August 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover has been collecting data about the geology and chemistry of the Martian surface.

  • Curiosity update: Methane spike confirmed and Martian eclipses observed

    Jim SharkeyApril 7th, 2019

    A methane spike detected by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover in 2013 has been confirmed by researchers reanalyzing data captured by the Mars Express orbiter.

  • Curiosity measures gravity of Mount Sharp

    Laurel KornfeldFebruary 3rd, 2019

    NASA's Curiosity rove has measured the gravity on Mount Sharp in much the same way Apollo 17 astronauts measured the Moon's gravity in 1972.

  • Curiosity Mars rover experiencing memory problem

    Derek RichardsonSeptember 20th, 2018

    While one NASA team attempts to reconnect with the 14-year-old Opportunity Mars rover following a planet-wide dust storm, engineers for another rover located on the opposite side of the planet are troubleshooting a glitch.

  • Curiosity reveals mysterious variety of terrains at Vera Rubin Ridge

    Laurel KornfeldSeptember 11th, 2018

    The area around NASA's Curiosity rover is providing scientists with colors and textures that are leaving them puzzled.

  • Martian storm chasers: Spacecraft observe dust storm

    Paul KnightlyJuly 30th, 2018

    A fleet of spacecraft are diligently studying the global dust storm currently encircling Mars. Much as storm chasers would do on Earth, they are collecting valuable data so that scientists can better understand how these storms form and evolve.

  • Record-setting Mars dust storm was overdue

    Paul KnightlyJune 28th, 2018

    As a global dust storm imperils the Opportunity rover and encircles Mars, scientists are getting their best look yet into the rare phenomenon. Data gleaned from this rare atmospheric event could also help provide important clues as NASA develops plans for crewed landings on the surface of the Red Planet.

  • Curiosity snaps photos of thickening haze as Martian dust storm goes global

    Tomasz NowakowskiJune 25th, 2018

    Despite being in the worse dust storm in recent years, NASA's Curiosity rover is sticking it out - and even managed to take a 'selfie' of itself.

  • Aliens discovered on Mars? Don’t believe the hype

    Laurel KornfeldJune 7th, 2018

    NASA's Mars Curiosity rover, which has been exploring the Red Planet since 2012, has discovered organic molecules in Martian rocks and atmospheric methane levels that change seasonally, according to an announcement and a live discussion the space agency held on Thursday, June 7. Proof of alien life? Not so much.

  • Curiosity’s laboratories resume analysis of Mars surface samples

    Laurel KornfeldJune 6th, 2018

    After more than a year and a half of inactivity, the laboratories on NASA's Mars Curiosity rover are once again analyzing surface samples collected from the Red Planet.

  • Update: Curiosity rover successfully drills hole in ‘Duluth’

    Jim SharkeyMay 23rd, 2018

    NASA's Curiosity rover has successfully tested a new method of drilling rocks on Mars. On Sunday, May 20, the rover drilled a hole about 2 inches (50 millimeters) into a target rock named "Duluth." It was the first rock sample acquired by Curiosity in more than a year.