Curiosity is a small-SUV-sized NASA rover that has been exploring Mars since 2012.
nasa-curiosity-rover Curiosity is the rover of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, built by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It landed in Gale Crater on 6 August 2012 and has explored the crater since, to assess whether the area could have supported microbial life. It carries ten science instruments, a drill and a robotic arm.
Its six wheels are milled out of solid aluminium, and its suspension tubes and arms are titanium. An ablative heat shield of PICA tiles, which wear away as they heat, protected it on entry. Its power comes from a nuclear source called an MMRTG, and Curiosity was the first NASA mission to carry one.
Curiosity has explored Gale Crater on Mars since 2012 to assess whether the area could have supported microbial life. It carries ten science instruments, a drill and a robotic arm. Its machined aluminium wheels, titanium suspension, ablative heat shield and nuclear power source were the template for Perseverance.
Each wheel is milled out of solid aluminium. The shell is machined down to about 30 thousandths of an inch thick. The tubes and the suspension arms that come down to the wheels are all titanium.
The entry heat shield was made of tiles of PICA, short for phenolic impregnated carbon ablator. The gaps between the tiles were filled with RTV, a rubbery sealant.
The MMRTG turns the heat of 4.8 kg of plutonium dioxide fuel into electricity using 768 thermocouples of lead telluride and TAGS. Iridium cladding and graphite sleeves protect the fuel, and a carbon-fibre aeroshell box surrounds each of eight heat-source modules.
The wheels, each milled out of solid aluminium. The alloy is not stated.
The suspension tubes and the arms that come down to the wheels.
The ablator tiles of the entry heat shield.
The ceramic fuel in the power source, 4.8 kg in total.
The 768 thermocouples that turn the fuel's heat into electricity.
The metal cladding around the plutonium fuel.
NASA and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory built Curiosity as the rover of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, launched on 26 November 2011. It was the first NASA mission to carry an MMRTG. Its machined aluminium wheels, titanium suspension, ablative heat shield and nuclear power source were the template for the Perseverance rover.
NASA / JPL
Aluminium. Here: Wheel (6); Wheel shell thickness. There: Wheel body (6).
carbon-fibre material. Here: GPHS aeroshell box. There: GPHS aeroshell box.
graphite. Here: GPHS graphite sleeves. There: GPHS graphite sleeves.
iridium metal. Here: GPHS fuel cladding. There: GPHS fuel cladding.
lead telluride / TAGS. Here: MMRTG thermoelectric couples (768). There: MMRTG thermoelectric couples (768).
PICA. Here: Heat shield tiles. There: Heat shield ablator tiles.
plutonium dioxide. Here: MMRTG heat source fuel. There: MMRTG heat source fuel.
SLA-561V. Here: Backshell ablator. There: Backshell ablator.
Titanium. Here: Suspension tubes and arms to wheels. There: Wheel spokes; Legs / suspension tubing and more.
NASA
Aluminium. Here: Wheel (6); Wheel shell thickness. There: Base; Shell skin, Z-rings and base ring structure and more.
SLA-561V. Here: Backshell ablator. There: Forebody heat shield.
Titanium. Here: Suspension tubes and arms to wheels. There: Propellant tanks (2).
ESA
Aluminium. Here: Wheel (6); Wheel shell thickness. There: Telescope (structure and mirrors, 3 telescopes).
Titanium. Here: Suspension tubes and arms to wheels. There: Focal plane interconnecting structure; Instrument mounting feet / flexures and more.
ESA / Airbus
Aluminium. Here: Wheel (6); Wheel shell thickness. There: Main structure tube; Equipment box (EQB) and more.
Titanium. Here: Suspension tubes and arms to wheels. There: OBA unit attachment fittings; Instrument support bipods (3).
Boeing
Aluminium. Here: Wheel (6); Wheel shell thickness. There: Hub and wheel disc (MESH-1 prototype wheel).
Titanium. Here: Suspension tubes and arms to wheels. There: Tread chevrons; Inner frame (MESH-1 prototype wheel; flight material not stated).
Grumman / NASA
Aluminium. Here: Wheel (6); Wheel shell thickness. There: Cabin front-face, RCS cluster trusses, decks and bulkheads; Micrometeoroid shield and more.
Titanium. Here: Suspension tubes and arms to wheels. There: Some brackets and fasteners (lunar module); Descent-stage hot-area structure and more.
Nothing is stated about the materials of the mast, robotic arm, chassis, batteries, electronics and instruments. The aluminium alloy of the wheels is not named, and nor is the material of the heat shield's own structure.
What is written above is built from these numbers and quotes. Each row links to the page it was taken from. Get all of it as JSON, or ask our MCP server.
| What | Value |
|---|---|
| Mass | 899 kg on Earth (337 kg weight at Mars gravity) |
| Size | About 10 ft long, 9 ft wide, 7 ft tall |
| Launch | 26 November 2011 |
| Landing | 6 August 2012, Gale Crater |
| Wheel size | About 50 cm diameter, 40 cm wide |
| Power | MMRTG about 110 W at launch |
| Entry heat shield | 4.5 m diameter, 70-degree spherecone |
Each material named in the sources: where it is used here, which other products use it, and its key numbers when its material page exists.
Used in 2 partsWheel (6) · Wheel shell thickness
Used in 1 partGPHS aeroshell box
Used in 1 partGPHS graphite sleeves
Used in 1 partGPHS fuel cladding
Used in 1 partMMRTG thermoelectric couples (768)
Used in 1 partHeat shield tiles
Used in 1 partMMRTG heat source fuel
Used in 1 partBackshell ablator
Used in 1 partSuspension tubes and arms to wheels
Wheels, suspension tubes, entry-vehicle thermal protection and the MMRTG have stated materials. The body, mast, arm and instruments do not.
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wheel (6)“milled out of solid aluminum” | aluminium (milled from solid; alloy not stated)aluminium | — | Wheel 50 cm diameter, 40 cm wide |
| Wheel shell thickness“a piece of machined aluminum that's about 30-thousandths of an inch thick” | aluminiumaluminium | — | — |
| Suspension tubes and arms to wheels“The tubes, the suspension arms coming down to the wheels; those are all titanium.” | titaniumtitanium | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heat shield tiles“MSL heatshield was made of PICA tiles with RTV gap fillers” | PICA (phenolic impregnated carbon ablator)pica | — | — |
| Backshell ablator“The nominal uniform thickness of SLA-561V for Mars 2020 was 1.27 cm (0.5 inch), the same as it was for MSL.” | SLA-561Vsla-561v | — | — |
| Part | Material | Finish and standard | Made by |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMRTG heat source fuel“contains a total of 10.6 pounds (4.8 kilograms) of plutonium dioxide fuel” | plutonium dioxide (Pu-238)plutonium-dioxide-fuel | — | — |
| MMRTG thermoelectric couples (768)“Lead telluride (PbTe)//Germanium telluride/Silver Antimony telluride (TAGS)” | lead telluride / TAGS (tellurium-antimony-germanium-silver)pbte-tags-thermoelectric | — | — |
| GPHS fuel cladding“iridium metal cladding, graphite sleeves that protect the fuel clads” | iridium metaliridium | — | — |
| GPHS graphite sleeves“graphite sleeves that protect the fuel clads” | graphitegraphite | — | — |
| GPHS aeroshell box“the rugged carbon-fiber material that forms the aeroshell” | carbon-fibre material (carbon-bonded carbon fibre per figure labels)carbon-bonded-carbon-fibre | — | — |
MSL-specific structure of heat shield and backshell, mast, arm, chassis, batteries, instruments and electronics not sourced. The SLA-561V and RTV-560 rows rely on NASA statements about the Mars 2020 design being the same as MSL.
Collected from public pages and documents, checked 4 Nov 2026.
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