Curiosity Lights Up ‘Nevado Sajama’ at Night

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used LED lights on the end of its robotic arm to create this rare nighttime view of the Red Planet’s surface on Dec. 6, 2025, the 4,740th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission. The LED lights are part of the Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI, a camera on the end of Curiosity’s robotic arm. The image was captured by the Mast Camera, or Mastcam, on the rover’s mast, or “head.” On occasion, scientists have used MAHLI’s LED lights to illuminate areas deep in shadow during the day, such as the insides of drill holes and the inlet tubes leading to instruments in the rover’s belly. Much earlier in the mission, the Curiosity team used these LEDs at night to look for layering or other features in drill hole walls that would help them understand a rock’s composition. Since the mission changed its drilling method, the drill holes have come out too rough and dusty to see any such details. After drilling a rock target nicknamed “Nevado Sajama” on Nov. 13, 2025 (Sol 4,718), the team noticed the drill hole walls were smooth enough to try looking for layers and decided to try illuminating the drill hole at night. This drill hole was made during Curiosity’s exploration of a region full of geologic formations called boxwork, which crisscross the surface for miles and look like giant spiderwebs when viewed from space. Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio. Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates both Mastcam and MAHLI. To learn more about Curiosity, visit: science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity