NavCam
Navcam, short for navigational camera, is a type of camera found on certain robotic rovers or spacecraft used for navigation without interfering with scientific instruments. Navcams typically take wide angle photographs that are used to plan the next moves of the vehicle or object tracking. • Illustration — Curiosity's self-portrait shows the deck of the rover as viewed from the NavCams.
Also recorded as navigational camera · navigation camera
NavCam
NASA/JPL-Caltech · NASA JPL · Public domain
- Field
- image sensor · space instrument
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wikidata · Q6982202 · wikipedia · Navcam
In this article
Overview
Overview
The Mars Curiosity rover has two pairs of black and white navigation cameras mounted on the mast to support ground navigation. The cameras have a 45 degree angle of view and use visible light to capture stereoscopic 3-D imagery. These cameras, like those on the Mars Pathfinder missions support use of the ICER image compression format. European Space Agency Rosetta spacecraft used a single camera with 5-degree field of view and 12 bit 1024x1024px resolution allowing for visual tracking on each of spacecraft approaches to the asteroids and finally the comet.
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — Curiosity rover's mast with two navcams • Illustration — Mars Exploration Rover's mast with two Pancams (on its sides) and two navcams • Illustration — Example of photo made by Opportunitys navcam • Illustration — First photo made by Curiositys navcam
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Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Navcam, revision 1367347696 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.ESA. Comet 67P/C-G in Rosetta's navigation camera.
- 2.NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The rover's "eyes" and other "senses". Mars Exploration Rover Mission.
- 3.How A Team Of Scientists Dropped A One-Ton Science Lab On Mars Completely Unscathed. The Business Insider. 17 December 2012.
- 4.More Driving And Imaging At 'Matijevic Hill'. Space Daily. November 26, 2012.
- 5.First NavCam mosaic
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Scientific instruments
736 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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- NASA Infrared Telescope FacilityTerminology
- Nasmyth telescopeTerminology
- National Large Solar TelescopeTerminology
- Navicula de VenetiisTerminology
- Navy Precision Optical InterferometerTerminology
- Near Earth Object Surveillance SatelliteTerminology
- Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object SpectrometerTerminology
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