Experience Curiosity

Experience Curiosity turns NASA mission data into a browser-based 3D rover sandbox. Drive across Pahrump Hills, replay selected science activities, move the mast and robotic arm, or swap among rover-camera views to see how the machine works.

What is Experience Curiosity?

This is less a game about conquering Mars than a mechanical field trip. Its four modes let you roam a reconstruction of Pahrump Hills, reenact mission moments, tug on highlighted rover parts, and open labels for instruments and terrain. NASA says the scene draws on Curiosity and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data, while the rover model follows real mechanisms and executed commands. The result focuses on an earlier stretch of the mission—including a Sol 908 drill and the famous Sol 868 selfie—so it works best as a time capsule, not a live tracker.

What you can do there

• Drive a virtual Curiosity rover across Pahrump Hills
• Replay selected mission activities
• Move rover components
• Inspect instruments and camera views

Why we picked it

Spacecraft diagrams are useful; grabbing the mast and looking through seven simulated camera positions makes the engineering easier to remember. Experience Curiosity gives a famously distant robot enough physical presence to invite tinkering, while keeping the science mission attached to the machinery.

How to get the most from it

Begin with Learn About Curiosity so the rover stops looking like one complicated box. Then replay a mission event before trying Free Drive. Switch camera views as you move, and use fullscreen only if the large 3D scene feels comfortable rather than disorienting.

Good to know

A WebGL-capable browser is required, and NASA recommends fullscreen for the best view. The simulation covers selected historical mission activities around Pahrump Hills rather than Curiosity's current location. Touch and pinch controls are documented, but keyboard and screen-reader behavior are not.

Who made it, and when?

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is the credited creator or organization. The earliest supported launch date we found is August 5, 2015.