File:Mars Science Laboratory Heat Shield PIA12117.jpg

Size of this preview: 498 × 599 pixels. Other resolutions: 199 × 240 pixels | 399 × 480 pixels | 638 × 768 pixels | 851 × 1,024 pixels | 2,446 × 2,943 pixels.

Original file ‎(2,446 × 2,943 pixels, file size: 842 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. Information from its description page there is shown below.
Commons is a freely licensed media file repository. You can help.

Summary

Description	English: Large Heat Shield for Mars Science Laboratory The finished heat shield for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, with a diameter of 4.5 meters (14 feet, 9 inches), is the largest ever built for descending through the atmosphere of any planet. This image shows the heat shield and a spacecraft worker at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, which built and tested the heat shield. The heat shield and the spacecraft's backshell together form an encapsulating aeroshell that will protect the mission's rover, Curiosity, from the intense heat and friction that will be generated as the flight system descends through the Martian atmosphere. The aeroshell has a steering capability produced by ejecting ballast that offsets the center of mass prior to entry into the atmosphere. This offset creates lift as it interacts with the thin Martian atmosphere and allows roll control and autonomous steering through the use of thrusters. The Mars Science Laboratory is being assembled and tested for launch in the autumn of 2011. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the mission.
Date	3 September 2012
Source	http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA12117
Author	NASA

Licensing

	This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.)
	Warnings: Use of NASA logos, insignia and emblems is restricted per U.S. law 14 CFR 1221. The NASA website hosts a large number of images from the Soviet/Russian space agency, and other non-American space agencies. These are not necessarily in the public domain. Materials based on Hubble Space Telescope data may be copyrighted if they are not explicitly produced by the STScI.[1] See also {{PD-Hubble}} and {{Cc-Hubble}}. The SOHO (ESA & NASA) joint project implies that all materials created by its probe are copyrighted and require permission for commercial non-educational use. [2] Images featured on the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) web site may be copyrighted. [3] The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) site has been known to host copyrighted content. Its photo gallery FAQ states that all of the images in the photo gallery are in the public domain "Unless otherwise noted."