Aug. 6, 2012
This image taken by Curiosity shows what lies ahead for the rover — its main target, informally called Mount Sharp. The rover's shadow is seen in the foreground, and the dark bands beyond are dunes. Rising in the distance is the highest peak of Mount Sharp at a height of about 3.4 miles, taller than Mount Whitney in California. The Curiosity team hopes to drive the rover to the mountain to investigate its lower layers, which scientists think hold clues to past environmental change. This image was captured by the rover's front left hazard-avoidance camera at full resolution shortly after it landed. It has not yet been linearized to remove the distorted appearance that results from its fisheye lens.
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity / AP
Aug. 5, 2012
This image was obtained by the Curiosity rover during its descent to the surface of Mars. The photo, taken by the Mars Descent Imager instrument known as MARDI, shows the 15-foot-diameter heat shield when it was about 50 feet from the spacecraft. It was obtained minutes before touching down on Mars and about three seconds after heat shield separation. It is among the first color images Curiosity sent back from Mars. The resolution of MARDI frames is reduced by a factor of eight in order for them to be promptly received on Earth during this early phase of the mission. Full resolution images will be returned to Earth over the next several months as Curiosity begins its scientific exploration.
/ NASA via Getty Images
This false-color map based on data from NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter shows the area where NASA's Curiosity rover landed. The image was obtained by Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System. It merges topographical data with thermal inertia data, which record the ability of the surface to hold heat. The yellow oval shows the elliptical target for Curiosity's landing site.
/ NASA/JPL-CalTech/ASU via AP
A green diamond shows approximately where NASA's Curiosity landed on Mars, a region about a mile northeast of its target in the center of the estimated landing region (blue ellipse). The location of the diamond is based on Earth-based navigation data taken before the rover’s entry into the Martian atmosphere, as well as data taken by its navigation instruments during descent.
/ NASA/JPL-CalTech via AP
Aug. 5, 2012
NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute are seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Curiosity descends to the surface of Mars. Curiosity is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability. Scientist will try to determine whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes.
/ AP
Aug. 5, 2012
NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute, left, descend to the Martian surface. The high-resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured this image of Curiosity while the orbiter was listening to transmissions from the rover. The inset image is a cutout of the rover, stretched to avoid saturation. The rover is descending toward the etched plains just north of the sand dunes that fringe Mount Sharp.
/ NASA/JPL-CalTech/University of Arizona via AP
Aug. 5, 2012
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance orbiter captures the Curiosity rover, connected to its 51-foot-wide parachute as it descends toward its landing site at Gale Crater.
/ NASA via Reuters
Aug. 6, 2012
This is one of the first images from the Curiosity rover: its wheel after it landed safely on Mars.
/ AP
Aug. 6, 2012
One of the first views from NASA's Curiosity rover after it touched down on Mars. The image was taken through a fisheye wide-angle lens on one of the rover's hazard-avoidance cameras on the rover's base.
/ Reuters
Aug. 6, 2012
Jasper Goldberg, left, and Andreas Bastian, both 22, watch a live broadcast of the NASA Mission Control Center in New York’s Times Square.
Andrew Burton / Reuters
Aug. 6, 2012
Julian Anderson, center, of Detroit celebrates in Times Square while watching a live broadcast of the NASA Mission Control Center as the rover lands on Mars.
Andrew Burton / Reuters
Aug. 6, 2012
Isabel Gonzalez, 22, of Staten Island and Dan Crowe, 25, of Buffalo watch a live stream of the Curiosity landing along with hundreds of other spectators in Times Square.
John Minchillo / AP
Aug. 5, 2012
Christopher J. Scolese, Director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, left, congratulates, MSL Entry, Descent and Landing Engineer Adam Steltzner look at the first images of Mars to come from the Curiosity rover shortly after it landed on Mars at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
NASA/Bill Ingalls / AP
Aug. 5, 2012
The Mars Science Laboratory team in the MSL Mission Support Area reacts after learning the Curiosity rover has landed safely on Mars and images start coming into the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
/ Reuters
Aug. 5, 2012
Miguel San Martin, a chief engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, left, celebrates with Adam Steltzner, Mars Science Laboratory’s entry, descent and landing phase lead, after the successful landing of Curiosity. They were gathered at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The rover landed at 1:31 a.m. Eastern time, as planned months ago.
Damian Dovarganes / AP
Aug. 5, 2012
From left, Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity team members Richard Cook, Adam Steltzner and John Grotzinger celebrate the landing of the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Damian Dovarganes / AP
Aug. 5, 2012
Telecom engineer Peter Ilott, front right, hugs a colleague as they celebrate Curiosity's successful landing, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
/ Reuters
Aug. 5, 2012
Entry, descent and landing team leader Adam Steltzner, right, celebrates at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. He said it appeared that the rover landed in a "nice flat spot."
Brian van der Brug / AP
Aug. 5, 2012
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden closes his eyes as the rover begins its decent to the surface of Mars, inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity rover at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Curiosity is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability and potentially paving the way for human exploration.
/ Reuters
Aug. 5, 2012
Activity lead Bobak Ferdowsi, who cuts his hair differently for each mission, works inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for the Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity rover at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Brian van der Brug / AP
Aug. 5, 2012
Mars Science Laboratory Flight Director Keith Comeaux looks on before the Curiosity rover's landing, in the MSL Mission Support Area at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
/ Reuters
