--- title: Photos from the Mars Curiosity Rover description: On Aug. 5, 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover successfully landed on Mars. Here are pictures from its exploration thus far canonical: https://time.com/3082834/mars-rover-2-years-photos/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-06T09:45:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:56.917Z article:section: Science og:title: Photos from the Mars Curiosity Rover og:description: On Aug. 5, 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover successfully landed on Mars. Here are pictures from its exploration thus far og:url: https://time.com/3082834/mars-rover-2-years-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt050bb53dec3fbbe9/69869e6ecd804d6df7ccc3cb/mars-curiosity-rover-photos09.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1333 og:image:height: 750 og:image:alt: A full-circle view released by NASA on June 20, 2013, combined nearly 900 images taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, generating a panorama with 1.3 billion pixels in the full-reso og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Photos from the Mars Curiosity Rover twitter:description: On Aug. 5, 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover successfully landed on Mars. Here are pictures from its exploration thus far twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt050bb53dec3fbbe9/69869e6ecd804d6df7ccc3cb/mars-curiosity-rover-photos09.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Photos from the Curiosity Rover's First 2 Incredible Years on Mars > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Future Proof: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Future Proof is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Making sense of the climate and energy economy. Future Proof examines the forces transforming energy and climate, and what those changes mean for business, technology, policy and the global economy. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Aug 6, 2014 9:45 AM UTC  A full-circle view released by NASA on June 20, 2013, combined nearly 900 images taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, generating a panorama with 1.3 billion pixels in the full-resolution version. The view is centered toward the south, with north at both ends. It shows NASA's Mars rover Curiosity at the 'Rocknest' site where the rover scooped up samples of windblown dust and sand. A full-circle view released by NASA on June 20, 2013, combined nearly 900 images taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, generating a panorama with 1.3 billion pixels in the full-resolution version. The view is centered toward the south, with north at both ends. It shows NASA's Mars rover Curiosity at the 'Rocknest' site where the rover scooped up samples of windblown dust and sand. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/EPA by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Aug 6, 2014 9:45 AM UTC  A full-circle view released by NASA on June 20, 2013, combined nearly 900 images taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, generating a panorama with 1.3 billion pixels in the full-resolution version. The view is centered toward the south, with north at both ends. It shows NASA's Mars rover Curiosity at the 'Rocknest' site where the rover scooped up samples of windblown dust and sand. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/EPA  NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover captures a selfie to mark a full Martian year -- 687 Earth days -- spent exploring the Red Planet. NASA/JPL  A detailed telephoto view from Curiosity shows Mount Sharp. The rover was expected to reach the 3.4-mile-high peak in February 2013, and the layered surface of the mountain should yield information to scientists on the planet's geological history. University of Arizona/JPL-Caltech/NASA  The Mar's Curiosity Rover's first photo of earth from the surface of Mars via Twitter NASA  Curiosity's tracks was taken by Navcam onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, on Nov. 18 2012. University of Arizona/JPL-Caltech/NASA  Tracks from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on Aug. 22, 2012 on Mars. NASA said the rover moved forward 15 feet, then rotated 120 degrees before reversing 8.2 feet during its first planned movement. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/EPA  The highest point on Mount Sharp is visible from the Curiosity rover on Aug. 18, 2012\. The Martian mountain rises 3.4 miles above the floor of Gale Crater. Geological deposits near the base of Mount Sharp are the destination of Curiosity's Mars mission. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/EPA  This image shows the robotic arm of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity with the first rock touched by an instrument on the arm. JPL-Caltech/NASA  This patch of windblown sand and dust downhill from a cluster of dark rocks is the "Rocknest" site, which was the location for the first use of the scoop on the arm of Curiosity. JPL-Caltech/MSSS/NASA  A small bright object on the ground beside the rover at the "Rocknest" site. The rover team has assessed this object as debris from the spacecraft, possibly from the events of landing on Mars. NASA  NASA's Mars rover Curiosity cut a wheel scuff mark into a wind-formed ripple at the "Rocknest" site to examine the particle-size of the ripple. For scale, the width of the wheel track is about 16 inches (40 centimeters). JPL-Caltech/NASA  A Martian rock illuminated by white-light LEDs is part of the first set of nighttime images taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager camera. NASA  When the rover landed, it sent images from one of the hazard-avoidance cameras. The image at left was taken before the camera's dust cover was removed, the image on the right was taken after. These engineering cameras are located at the rover's base, and are lower-resolution than the color images produced by the rover's mast. University of Arizona/JPL-Caltech/NASA  NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute are seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Curiosity descends to the surface around 10:32 p.m. PDT, Aug. 5, or 1:32 a.m. EDT, Aug. 6, 2012\. The rover is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and whether Mars ever had an environment able to support life. 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