NASA’s Curiosity rover has observed more than 5,000 sunrises and sunsets during its mission to study the past of Mars and the possibility of life on the planet; the rover, which landed on Mars in 2012, is still continuing its scientific activities after more than 14 years, despite being originally designed for a two-year mission.
Curiosity has already traveled more than 38 kilometers from its landing site and climbed more than a kilometer up the slopes of Mount Sharp. The rover has captured hundreds of images every Martian day using its 17 cameras and has sent more than 780,000 images to Earth so far.
Notable images from this mission include the first color image of a sunset on Mars in 2015, Curiosity’s famous selfie next to a Namib sand dune in 2016, and images of the “Boxwork” geological structures in 2025.
During its mission, Curiosity also photographed an iron meteorite, a Martian night sky, and a rock structure resembling a “small door”; in 2024, rare crystals of elemental sulfur were discovered after a rock was crushed under the rover’s wheels.
The rover has so far collected and examined 42 rock samples with a special drill; Curiosity’s data and images continue to help scientists study the geological history of Mars and the possible conditions suitable for life in the past on the planet.
