page_title: Curiosity (rover)
section_title: Scientific instruments
hierarchical_section_title: Curiosity (rover) / Scientific instruments
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Schéma de Mars Science Laboratory Polski: Rysunek łazika Curiosity
context_page_description: Curiosity is a car-sized rover designed to explore Gale Crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission. Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26th, 2011, at 15:02 UTC and landed on Aeolis Palus inside Gale on Mars on August 6th, 2012, 05:17 UTC. The Bradbury Landing site was less than 2.4 km from the center of the rover's touchdown target after a 560 million km journey. The rover's goals include an investigation of the Martian climate and geology; assessment of whether the selected field site inside Gale has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life, including investigation of the role of water; and planetary habitability studies in preparation for human exploration.
  In December 2012, Curiosity's two-year mission was extended indefinitely, and on August 5th, 2017, NASA celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Curiosity rover landing. The rover is still operational, and as of August 21, 2020, Curiosity has been on the planet Mars for 2859 sols since landing on August 6th, 2012. The NASA/JPL Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity Project Team was awarded the 2012 Robert J.
context_section_description: The general sample analysis strategy begins with high-resolution cameras to look for features of interest. If a particular surface is of interest, Curiosity can vaporize a small portion of it with an infrared laser and examine the resulting spectra signature to query the rock's elemental composition. If that signature is intriguing, the rover uses its long arm to swing over a microscope and an X-ray spectrometer to take a closer look. If the specimen warrants further analysis, Curiosity can drill into the boulder and deliver a powdered sample to either the SAM or the CheMin analytical laboratories inside the rover. The MastCam, Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), and Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) cameras were developed by Malin Space Science Systems and they all share common design components, such as on-board electronic imaging processing boxes, 1600×1200 CCDs, and an RGB Bayer pattern filter.
  In total, the rover carries 17 cameras: HazCams (8), NavCams (4), MastCams (2), MAHLI (1), MARDI (1), and ChemCam (1).
caption: Instrument location diagram
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