Curiosity's Trailblazing Images From Mars

With the dust cover off, MAHLI snapped this detailed image of Curiosity's lower front and underbelly. MAHLI is capable of taking high-res, close-up shots and can focus on an object as close as 0.8 inches away.

The calibration target on Curiosity includes color references, a metric bar graph, a 1909 Lincoln penny and a stair-step pattern. The target helps color balance the instrument and gives mission scientists a standard for understanding the depth and size of objects photographed. The penny is a reference to geologists' tradition of using a coin as a size reference in close-up photos of rocks.

On Aug. 27, NASA released the a high resolution shot of the dark dunes and layered rock at the base of Mount Sharp, Curiosity's eventual destination. The image, which was taken on Aug. 23, looks south-southwest from the rover's landing site. The top ridge of the distant mountain is about 10 miles from the rover.

In the coming year, Curiosity will attempt to dig into the layers of rock at Mount Sharp to test its chemistry. Using this information, scientists will determine if the planet's terrain has ingredients and conditions capable for supporting life.

Curiosity completed its first drive on Mars on Aug. 22. The rover drove forward 15 feet, then reversed 8.2 feet. This images shows its tracks.

On Aug. 17, NASA released a high-resolution self-portrait of Curiosity taken on Aug. 7. The image is composed of 20 shots, each 1,024 by 1,023 pixels. The back of the rover is at the top left of the image and two of its right side wheels are on the left. In the background the rim of Gale Crater is visible.

On Aug. 12, NASA released this color image taken from Curiosity's Mast Camera. The image shows part of the wall of Gale Crater, the location on Mars where the rover landed. The network of valleys visible is believed to have formed by water erosion making this shot the first view scientists have had of a fluvial system -- one relating to a river or stream -- from the surface of Mars.

Late on Aug. 8, Curiosity took a series of color images of its surroundings. From 130 of these images, NASA created the first 360-degree color panorama of Gale Crater. This is one section of the full view. The gray splotches in the foreground show where the rover's rocket engines blasted the ground during landing, and Curiosity's wheel can be seen in the bottom right corner.

On Aug. 7, Curiosity sent back its first color photo.  The rover snapped a shot of the dusty, rust-tinged landscape where it landed with the north wall and rim of Gale Crater visible in the distance. Curiosity captured the image using MAHLI, a camera located on its robotic arm.

As Curiosity descended toward Mars, it captured a shot of its 15-foot-wide heat shield about three seconds after it separated from the vehicle. The heat shield was one piece of the rover's aeroshell, a protective covering that kept the rover safe as it entered the Martian atmosphere. Once the rover successfully made it through the intense heat of entry, the heat shield's job was complete and it was released from the craft.

When Curiosity landed on Mars it dispelled a few big pieces of hardware. After entering the Martian atmosphere the rover first released its heat shield, followed by the black shell that was attached to its parachute. Once Curiosity landed, the cables connecting it to its touchdown system, called the sky crane, were cut, and the sky crane flew off clear of the landing site. Following the successful touch down, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter caught a picture of the landing site, allowing NASA to identify where each piece of the rover ended up.

Moments after Curiosity landed on Mars late Sunday night, it sent back its first photo: a low-resolution shot of the landing site and its shadow. Because the camera still had its clear dust cover on, dust is visible around the image's edges.

Shortly after landing, the rover captured a clearer image of its surroundings, taken through a "fisheye" wide-angle lens. In the bottom right area of the image, the rover's wheel is visible along with part of the spring that released the camera's dust cover.

This extraordinary image shows Curiosity parachuting into Mars late Sunday night, ending its eight-month journey from Earth. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took the photo. Look carefully at the left side of the image and you can see the rover's fully inflated supersonic parachute above its shiny black shell.

Before sending Curiosity to Mars, the mission team tested similar rovers on California sand dunes. This rover, called Scarecrow, moves like Curiosity but doesn't have its sophisticated onboard computer.

The Curiosity rover is equipped with 17 cameras: nine hard-mounted to the rover's body, seven on the vehicle's mast, and one, called the Mars Hand Lens Imager, located at the end of a robotic arm. 

An artist's sketch illustrates Curiosity's descent to Mars, from entry to landing.

Time to celebrate: NASA engineers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Pasadena, Calif., erupted in cheers when they learned the rover landed safely Sunday night.

JPL's engineers celebrate Curiosity's successful landing.

Artist's stills created before Curiosity made its descent show how the rover would communicate with engineers during its landing. The two types of data illustrated are radio-frequency tones that go directly to earth (shown as pink dots) and UHF radio data (shown as blue circles) that are relayed through orbiters.

JPL engineers rejoice as they share the first image Curiosity sent back from Mars.