Six Years of Curiosity’s Wheels on the Move

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its right navigation camera – one of two on the rover’s mast or head – to capture images for this timelapse, which spans six years of driving. The images were taken between January 2, 2020 and March 8, 2026 (the 2,633rd and 4,830th Martian days, or sol, of the mission, respectively). The images were taken as the mast looked behind the rover to help the science team choose which rocks to study.

The Curiosity team uses this timelapse to observe grains of sand moving across the rover’s deck. Distinguishing between the sand kicked up by each ride and the gusts of wind can provide new information about seasonal changes in the atmosphere.

Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL is leading the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio.

To learn more about Curiosity, visit:

science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity