Aug 23, 2012

Curiosity rover makes tracks on Mars in successful test drive

The Baltimore Sun 4 Comments NASA ChemCam, Curiosity, Gale Crater, HiRISE, laser, Mars, Mars Descent Imager, Mount Sharp, NASA, rock, space

66 photos

Since NASA’s Curiosity landed on Mars on August 5, 2012, public excitement and speculation about what the rover will encounter continues to mount. To feed the appetite of the masses, we’ll continue to update our Curiosity gallery with NASA’s latest photos of the red planet, including panorama, composite and computer-generated images.

The next phase of the $2.5 billion mission, and by far the most daunting for Curiosity, will be reaching Mount Sharp. At a height of 3.4 miles, the highest peak of Mount Sharp is taller than Mt. Whitney in California. On its way, the rover will encounter dark dunes, degraded impact craters and other geologic features on the Martian surface of the planet. For updates follow @MarsCuriosity on Twitter.

: This image shows the tracks left by NASA’s Curiosity rover on Aug. 22, 2012, as it completed its first test drive on Mars. The rover went forward 15 feet (4.5 meters), rotated 120 degrees and then reversed 8.2 feet (2.5 meters). Curiosity is now 20 feet (6 meters) from its landing site, named Bradbury Landing. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via Getty Images)

: This image released by NASA shows tracks made by Curiosity’s tires during its first test drive as seen by Navcam: Right A (NAV_RIGHT_A) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 16, August 22, 2012 at 15:03:56 UTC. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via Getty Images)

: Tracks from NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover are seen August 22, 2012 on Mars. According to NASA, the rover moved forward 15 feet, then rotated 120 degrees before reversing 8.2 feet during its first time moving. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via Getty Images)

: This image released by NASA shows tracks made by Curiosity’s tires during its first test drive as seen by Navcam: Left A (NAV_LEFT_A) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 16, August 22, 2012 at 15:16:35 UTC. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via Getty Images)

: Handout image courtesy of NASA shows tracks left by the Curiosity rover on Mars August 22, 2012. (NASA/JPL via Reuters)

: This image released by NASA shows terrain around the Curiosity rover during its first test drive as seen by Navcam: Right A (NAV_RIGHT_A) on board NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover on Sol 16, August 22, 2012 at 15:09:56 UTC. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via Getty Images)

: Tracks from NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover are seen from above in this composite image made from the Navigation camera August 22, 2012 on Mars. According to NASA, the rover moved forward 15 feet, then rotated 120 degrees before reversing 8.2 feet during its first time moving. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via Getty Images)

: This image released by NASA shows Mount Sharp taken by Navcam: Left A (NAV_LEFT_A) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 15, August 21, 2012 at 13:42:26 UTC. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via Getty Images)

: This image released by NASA shows an image Front Hazcam: Left A (FHAZ_LEFT_A) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 15, August 21, 2012 at 14:21:30 UTC. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via Getty Images)

: August 17, 2012: The first target (circled, L) for NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars will be zapped with its Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument. ChemCam will be firing a laser at this rock, provisionally named N165, and analyzing the glowing, ionized gas, or plasma, that the laser excites. The instrument will analyze that spark with a telescope and identify the chemical elements in the target. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Reuters)

: August 19, 2012: A mosaic image with a close-up inset, taken prior to the laser test, shows the rock chosen as the first target for NASA’s Curiosity rover to zap with its Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument. ChemCam fired its laser at the fist-sized rock, called “Coronation” (previously ‘N165’), with the purpose of analyzing the glowing, ionized gas, called plasma, that the laser excites. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 19, 2012: This composite image, with magnified insets, depicts the first laser test by the Chemistry and Camera, or ChemCam, instrument aboard NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover on Mars in this Nasa handout photo. The composite incorporates a Navigation Camera image taken prior to the test, with insets taken by the camera in ChemCam. The circular insert highlights the rock before the laser test. The square inset is further magnified and processed to show the difference between images taken before and after the laser interrogation of the rock. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/LANL/Handout/Reuters)

: August 17, 2012: The view from the landing site of NASA’s Curiosity rover toward the lower reaches of Mount Sharp on Mars is seen in this NASA photo. This image shows the colors modified as if the scene were transported to Earth and illuminated by terrestrial sunlight. This processing, called “white balancing,” is useful to scientists for recognizing and distinguishing rocks by color in more familiar lighting. The terrain Curiosity will explore is marked by hills, buttes, mesas and canyons on the scale of one-to-three story buildings, very much like the Four Corners region of the western United States. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Reuters)

: August 17, 2012: A self-portrait showing the deck of NASA’s Curiosity rover from the rover’s Navigation camera. The full-resolution images, taken from 360 degrees around the rover, are displayed here as a polar projection. The rim of Gale Crater can be seen at upper right. This mosaic is made of 20 images taken late at night on Aug. 7 PDT (early morning Aug. 8 EDT). (NASA/JPL-Caltech/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 17, 2012: A full-resolution self-portrait shows the deck of NASA’s Curiosity rover from the rover’s Navigation camera. The back of the rover can be seen at the top left of the image, and two of the rover’s right side wheels can be seen on the left. The undulating rim of Gale Crater forms the lighter color strip in the background. Bits of gravel, about 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) in size, are visible on the deck of the rover. This mosaic is made of 20 images taken late at night on Aug. 7 PDT (early morning Aug. 8 EDT). It uses an average of the Navcam positions to synthesize the point of view of a single camera, with a field of view of 120 degrees. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/HO/AFP/GettyImages)

: August 16, 2012: NASA’s Curiosity rover looks south of the rover’s landing site on Mars towards Mount Sharp. This is part of a larger, high-resolution color mosaic made from images taken by Curiosity’s Mast Camera for over an hour on August 8, 2012. In this version of the image, colors have been modified as if the scene were transported to Earth and illuminated by terrestrial sunlight. This processing, called “white balancing,” is useful for scientists to be able to recognize and distinguish rocks by color in more familiar lighting. The image provides an overview of the eventual geological targets Curiosity will explore over the next two years, starting with the rock-strewn, gravelly surface close by, and extending towards the dark dunefield. Beyond that lie the layered buttes and mesas of the sedimentary rock of Mount Sharp. (AFP PHOTO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

: August 14, 2012: An oblique view of Gale, and Mount Sharp are seen in the center in this image derived from a combination of elevation and imaging data from three Mars orbiters. The view is looking toward the southeast. Mount Sharp rises about 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) above the floor of Gale Crater. The image combines elevation data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera on the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter, image data from the Context Camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and color information from Viking Orbiter imagery. NASA’s Curiosity rover landed in the Martian crater known as Gale Crater, which is approximately the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. A green dot shows where the rover landed, well within its targeted landing ellipse, outlined in blue. There is no vertical exaggeration in the image. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/FU Berlin/DLR/ESA/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 14, 2012: In this detail section of an image taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as the satellite flew overhead, shows the terrain around the rover’s landing site within Gale Crater on Mars. Colors were enhanced to bring out subtle differences, showing that the landing region is not as colorful as regions to the south, closer to Mount Sharp, where Curiosity will eventually explore. In reality, the blue colors are more gray. The rover itself is seen as the circular object, with the blast pattern from its descent stage seen as relatively blue colors. The dark dune fields lying between the rover and Mount Sharp can be seen in the lower portion of the picture. Mount Sharp is out of view, below the image frame. The rover is about 980 feet (300 meters) from the bottom of the picture. This image was acquired six days after Curiosity landed. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Handout/Reuters)

: (Click to ZOOM in. Then double-click to ZOOM and MOVE around the image.) August 14, 2012: This color-enhanced view, taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as the satellite flew overhead, shows the terrain around the rover’s landing site within Gale Crater on Mars. Colors were enhanced to bring out subtle differences, showing that the landing region is not as colorful as regions to the south, closer to Mount Sharp, where Curiosity will eventually explore. In reality, the blue colors are more gray. The rover itself is seen as the circular object, with the blast pattern from its descent stage seen as relatively blue colors. The dark dune fields lying between the rover and Mount Sharp can be seen in the lower portion of the picture. Mount Sharp is out of view, below the image frame. The rover is about 980 feet (300 meters) from the bottom of the picture. This image was acquired six days after Curiosity landed. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Handout/Reuters)

: August 14, 2012: The first color image taken from orbit shows NASA’s rover Curiosity on Mars including details of the layered bedrock on the floor of Gale Crater that the rover is beginning to investigate. (NASA/Handout/Reuters)

: (Click to ZOOM in. Then double-click to ZOOM and MOVE around the image.) August 14, 2012: A high resolution panoramic image shows the view from NASA’s Curiosity of the Gale Crater landing site on Mars. According to NASA, the image was made up of 130 1,200 by 1,200 pixel full-color images taken on August 8, all of the images sent to Earth by the rover so far. (NASA via Getty Images)

: August 12, 2012: This color image from NASA’s Curiosity rover, taken August 8, 2012, shows an area excavated by the blast of the Mars Science Laboratory’s descent stage rocket engines. This is part of a larger, high-resolution color mosaic made from images obtained by Curiosity’s Mast Camera. With the loose debris blasted away by the rockets, details of the underlying materials are clearly seen. Of particular note is a well-defined, topmost layer that contains fragments of rock embedded in a matrix of finer material. Shown in the inset in the figure are pebbles up to 1.25 inches (about 3 centimeters) across (top two arrows) and a larger clast 4 inches (11.5 centimeters) long protruding up by about 2 inches (10 centimeters) from the layer in which it is embedded. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout/Reuters)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:50:39 UTC) shows a portion of Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:13:17 UTC) shows the mountains looming in the distance in front of Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:13:17 UTC) shows the mountains looming in the distance in front of Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:13:02 UTC) shows the mountains looming in the distance in front of Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:13:17 UTC) shows the mountains looming in the distance in front of Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:12:21 UTC) shows the mountains looming in the distance in front of Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:25:23 UTC) shows the gravelly Martian surface Surrounding Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:26:20 UTC) shows the gravelly Martian surface Surrounding Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:54:41 UTC) shows the gravelly Martian surface Surrounding Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:54:41 UTC) shows the gravelly Martian surface Surrounding Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:54:41 UTC) shows the gravelly Martian surface Surrounding Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:54:41 UTC) shows the gravelly Martian surface Surrounding Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:54:41 UTC) shows the gravelly Martian surface surrounding Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) on board NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:54:41 UTC) shows the gravelly Martian surface Surrounding Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 9, 2012: A view taken by Mastcam: Left (MAST_LEFT) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3 (2012-08-09 05:54:41 UTC) shows the gravelly Martian surface under Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 10, 2012: A distant blob (L) is seen in this image released by NASA taken by a Hazard-Avoidance camera on NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars, which may be a cloud created during the crash of the rover’s descent stage. Pictures taken about 45 minutes later (R) do not show the cloud, providing further evidence it was from the crash. The bright spot at upper center, which is larger in the view at right, is due to image saturation from looking at the sun. These images are from the rover’s rear Hazard-avoidance cameras. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout/Reuters)

: August 10, 2012: This portion of an image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been annotated to show the relative positions between NASA’s Curiosity rover (R) and the impact site of its sky crane, or descent stage. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Handout/Reuters)

: August 10, 2012: This mosaic image shows part of the left side of NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars and two blast marks from the descent stage’s rocket engines. The images that were used to make the mosaic were obtained by the rover’s Navigation cameras on August 7. The rim of Gale Crater is the lighter colored band across the horizon. The back of the rover is to the left. The blast marks can be seen in the middle of the image. Several small bits of rock and soil, which were made airborne by the rocket engines, are visible on the rover’s top deck. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout/Reuters)

: August 10, 2012: This NASA image shows a global map of Mars that was acquired on August 5, 2012, by the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. One global map is generated each day to forecast weather conditions for the entry, descent and landing of NASA’s Curiosity rover. The atmosphere is clear and seasonal around Gale Crater, in agreement with the computer models used to simulate Curiosity’s landing. The dust storm southwest of Gale Crater, first seen on July 31, changed into an inactive dust cloud on August 2, and now has dispersed even further. Dust activity had been picking up on parts of the planet before landing, but none of these dust clouds arrived at Gale Crater before Curiosity did. (NASA/JPL-Caltech /msss/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 10, 2012: The geological context for the Mars landing site of NASA’s Curiosity rover is visible in this mosaic obtained by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The area around the landing site has been divided into square areas of interest about 1 mile (1.3 kilometers) wide. Curiosity landed in the quad called Yellowknife (number 51), a city in northwestern Canada as well as group of rocks from the same region. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona/Handout/Reuters)

: August 9, 2012: This is a portion of the first color 360-degree panorama from NASA’s Curiosity rover in Mars made up of thumbnails, which are small copies of higher-resolution images. The mission’s destination, a mountain at the center of mountain at the center of Gale Crater called Mount Sharp, can be seen in the distance, to the left, beginning to rise up. Blast marks from the rover’s descent stage are in the foreground. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Handout/Reuters)

: (Click to ZOOM in. Then double-click to ZOOM and MOVE around the image.) August 9, 2012: The first 360-degree panorama in color of the Gale Crater landing site in Mars taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover. The panorama was made from thumbnail versions of images taken by the Mast Camera on August 8. Scientists will be taking a closer look at several splotches in the foreground that appear gray. These areas show the effects of the descent stage’s rocket engines blasting the ground. What appeared as a dark strip of dunes in previous, black-and-white pictures from Curiosity can also be seen along the top of this mosaic, but the color images also reveal additional shades of reddish brown around the dunes, likely indicating different textures or materials. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Handout/Reuters)

: August 9, 2012: This full-resolution image taken August 7, 2012 shows part of the deck of NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars taken from one of the rover’s Navigation cameras looking toward the back left of the rover. On the left of this image, part of the rover’s power supply is visible. To the right of the power supply can be seen the pointy low-gain antenna and side of the paddle-shaped high-gain antenna for communications directly to Earth. The rim of Gale Crater is the lighter colored band across the horizon. The effects of the descent stage’s rocket engines blasting the ground can be seen on the right side of the image, next to the rover. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout/Reuters)

: (Click to ZOOM in. Then double-click to ZOOM and MOVE around the image.) August 9, 2012: This 360-degree, full-resolution panorama from NASA’s Curiosity rover shows the area all around the rover within Gale Crater on Mars. The rover’s deck is to the left and far right. The rover’s “head” or mast, where the Navigation cameras that took this picture are located, casts a shadow seen near the center. The rim of Gale Crater is to the left, and the base of Mount Sharp is to the center-right. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout/Reuters)

: August 9, 2012: This full-resolution self-portrait shows the deck of NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars from the rover’s Navigation cameras. The back of the rover can be seen at the top left of the image, and two of the rover’s right side wheels can be seen on the left. This mosaic is made of eight images, each of 1,024 by 1,024 pixels, taken late at night on August 7. The “augmented reality” or AR tag seen in the middle of the image can be used in the future with smart phones to obtain more information about the mission. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout/Reuters)

: August 9, 2012: A close-up view shows the zones where the soil at Curiosity’s landing site was blown away by the thrusters on the rover’s descent stage on Mars. The excavation of the soil reveals probable bedrock outcrop. This is important because it shows the shallow depth of the soil in this area. The area surrounding the zones of excavation shows abundant small rocks that may form a pavement-like layer above harder bedrock. This full-resolution image was taken by the rover’s Navigation camera. (AFP PHOTO / NASA/JPL-Caltech/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 8, 2012: This Picasso-like self portrait of NASA’s Curiosity rover was taken by its Navigation cameras, located on the now-upright mast. The camera snapped pictures 360-degrees around the rover, while pointing down at the rover deck, up and straight ahead. Those images are shown here in a polar projection. Most of the tiles are thumbnails, or small copies of the full-resolution images that have not been sent back to Earth yet. (NASA/JPL/Handout/Reuters)

: August 8, 2012: This is the location (green) where scientists estimate NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on Mars within Gale Crater, based on images from the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI). The landing estimates derived from navigation and landing data agree to within 660 feet (200 meters) of this MARDI estimate. The red line shows the northern edge of the targeted landing region, a probability distribution defined by an ellipse. The gray scale image is a mosaic from the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The color image is from MARDI. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/University of Arizona/Getty Images)

: August 8, 2012: This is the first image taken by the Navigation cameras on NASA’s Curiosity rover. It shows the shadow of the rover’s now-upright mast in the center, and the arm’s shadow at left. The arm itself can be seen in the foreground. The navigation camera is used to help find the sun — information that is needed for locating, and communicating, with Earth. After the camera pointed at the sun, it turned in the opposite direction and took this picture. The position of the shadow helps confirm the sun’s location. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Getty Images)

: August 8, 2012: A new 3-D image shows the view behind NASA’s Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars on August 5. The anaglyph was made from a stereo pair of Hazard-Avoidance Cameras on the rear of the rover. Part of the rim of the Gale Crater, which is the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined, stretches from the top middle to the top right of the image. One of the rover’s wheels can be seen at bottom right. The bright spot is saturation from the sun. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Getty Images)

: August 8, 2012: A new full-resolution color image from NASA’s Curiosity Rover shows the pebble-covered surface of Mars. It was taken by the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) several minutes after Curiosity touched down. The camera is about 30 inches (70 centimeters) from the surface as the rover sits on the ground. A sliver of sunlight passing through the structure of the rover illuminates the surface. The largest rock fragment in the image is about 2 inches (5 centimeters) long. Most are much smaller. A rover wheel is visible at the top left. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Getty Images)

: August 8, 2012: A new color full-resolution image shows the heat shield of NASA’s Curiosity rover during descent to the surface of Mars on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT). The image was obtained by the Mars Descent Imager instrument known as MARDI and shows the 15-foot (4.5-meter) diameter heat shield when it was about 50 feet (16 meters) from the spacecraft. This image shows the inside surface of the heat shield, with its protective multi-layered insulation. The bright patches are calibration targets for MARDI. Also seen in this image is the Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrument (MEDLI) hardware attached to the inside surface. It is the 36th MARDI image, obtained about three seconds after heat shield separation and about two and one-half minutes before touchdown. The original image from MARDI has been geometrically corrected to look flat. (NASA/JJPL-CALTECH/HO/AFP/Getty Images)

: August 8, 2012: These are the first two full-resolution images of the Martian surface from the Navigation cameras on NASA’s Curiosity rover, which are located on the rover’s “head” or mast. The rim of Gale Crater can be seen in the distance beyond the pebbly ground. The topography of the rim is very mountainous due to erosion. The ground seen in the middle shows low-relief scarps and plains. The foreground shows two distinct zones of excavation likely carved out by blasts from the rover’s descent stage thrusters. (NASA/MCT)

: August 8, 2012: The Martian horizon is seen by a camera onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity. The primary mission of Curiosity, touted as first fully equipped mobile laboratory ever sent to another world, is to search for evidence that the planet most similar to Earth now harbors, or once hosted, the key ingredients necessary for the evolution of microbial life. (NASA/Handout/Reuters)

: (Click to ZOOM in. Then double-click to ZOOM and MOVE around the image.) August 8, 2012: The first 360-degree panoramic view of Mars from NASA’s Curiosity rover, taken with the Navigation cameras. Most of the tiles are thumbnails, or small copies of the full-resolution images, that have not been sent back to Earth yet. Two of the tiles near the center are full-resolution. Mount Sharp is to the right, and the crater rim can be seen at center. The rover’s body is in the foreground, with the shadow of its head, or mast, poking up to the right. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout/Reuters)

: August 7, 2012: This anaglyph is a 3-D view from the front of NASA’s Curiosity rover made from a stereo pair of Hazard-Avoidance Cameras. Mount Sharp, a peak that is about 5.5 km (3.4 miles) high, is visible rising above the terrain, though in one “eye” a box on the rover holding the drill bits obscures the view. This image was captured by Hazard-Avoidance cameras on the front of the rover at full resolution shortly after the rover landed. It has been linearized to remove the distorted appearance that results from its fisheye lens. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout/Reuters)

: August 7, 2012: A view through a Hazard-Avoidance camera on NASA’s Curiosity rover before and after the clear dust cover was removed, is seen in this image comparison released by NASA. Both images were taken by a camera at the front of the rover. Mount Sharp, the mission’s ultimate destination, looms ahead. The view on the left, with the dust cover on, is one quarter of full resolution, while the view on the right is full resolution. Full-resolution images taken with the dust cover still on are not available at this time. (NASA/JPL-Caltech//Handout/Reuters)

: August 7, 2012: The parachute and back shell of NASA’s Curiosity rover strewn across the surface of Mars, is seen in this close-up view released by NASA. The image was captured by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter about 24 hours after the parachute helped guide the rover to the surface. When the back shell impacted the ground, bright dust was kicked up, exposing darker material underneath. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona/Handout/Reuters)

: August 7, 2012: An image taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter projected on a screen during a news conference for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. (Patrick T. Fallon/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

: August 7, 2012: The Martian landing site of NASA’s Curiosity rover puts a color view obtained by the rover in the context of a computer simulation derived from images acquired from orbiting spacecraft, in this picture released by NASA. The view looks north, showing a distant ridge that is the north wall and rim of Gale Crater. The color image was obtained by Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on August 6, 2012. It has been rendered about 10 percent transparent so that scientists can see how it matches the simulated terrain in the background. The MAHLI image was taken while the camera’s transparent dust cover was still on. Curiosity’s descent coated the cover with a thin film of dust. The peak seen on the left-side of the MAHLI image is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) distant with a height of about 3,775 feet (1,150 meters) high. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/Handout/Reuters)

: August 6, 2012: This image, provided by NASA, shows a labeled version of one of the first images taken by a rear Hazard-Avoidance camera on NASA’s Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT. The image shows a fin on the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (the rover’s power source), the rear left wheel and a spring that released the dust cover on the Hazard-Avoidance camera. It was taken through a “fisheye” wide-angle lens. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/HO/AFP/GettyImages)

: August 6, 2012: An image taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance orbiter, captures the Curiosity rover as its still connected to its 51-foot-wide (almost 16 meter) parachute descending towards its landing site at Gale Crater on August 5, 2012. “If HiRISE took the image one second before or one second after, we probably would be looking at an empty Martian landscape,” said Sarah Milkovich, HiRISE investigation scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “When you consider that we have been working on this sequence since March and had to upload commands to the spacecraft about 72 hours prior to the image being taken, you begin to realize how challenging this picture was to obtain.” (Courtesy NASA/Handout/Reuters)

: August 6, 2012: A view of Mount Sharp is seen in the distance taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover front hazcam and transmitted to Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on August 6, 2012 in Pasadena, California. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via Getty Images)

: August 6, 2012: About two hours after landing on Mars and beaming back its first image, NASA’s Curiosity rover transmitted a higher-resolution image of its new Martian home, Gale Crater. Mission Control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, received the image, taken by one of the vehicle’s lower-fidelity, black-and-white Hazard Avoidance Cameras or Hazcams. (Courtesy NASA/Handout/Reuters)

Mars rover takes first drive; touchdown spot named for Ray Bradbury
By Amina Khan/Los Angeles Times
5:45 p.m. EDT, August 22, 2012

After two weeks of taking stock of its surroundings, the Mars Curiosity rover has taken its first “baby steps” and sent back images of its first tracks, NASA officials said Wednesday.

Engineers sent the commands Tuesday night for this first drive, which took about 16 minutes — mostly spent taking pictures, said lead rover driver Matt Heverly. During the test, the rover moved forward about 4½ meters, turned 120 degrees in place and then backed up 2½ meters — ending up about 6 meters, or roughly 20 feet, from its landing spot. As it moved forward, its boxy head turned from side to side, taking shots of its wheels in the process.

According to Heverly, the tracks in the Martian soil indicate, as expected, that the soil is firm, didn’t cause the rover to sink much and should be great for moving around in.

MORE: NASA lands Curiosity rover on Mars

4 Comments

Johno Whitfield
Aug 21, 2012 @ 13:55:11

How long is it going to take to make an atmosphere on mars? And start planting forests ect? And then recolanise?

jack
Aug 12, 2012 @ 08:28:52

Great.. but is 2.5 billion worth the lives of starving people in the world?.. Relates to the same psychotic mentality of America shooting a bomb into the moon the size of a double decker bus.. Add that to the spike hair entertainer on the opening historical mars site and it equates that as long as humans are on this planet, we are doomed.. time being the only essence…history only exists whilst the so called human race exists.. Is time on our side for this and other exploratory seemingless wasted money?..Absolutely not.. Think about it.. Our race will not see the adventure the world expects, and if believing we as humans will be living on another planet then the human science is delerious.. ABSOLUTELY OFF THIS PLANET..If ????????????this planet lasts for another 200 years with humans on it, ‘and at least one none gay female to a non gay male left before then’ then to continue the race we will need more than a so called God to save the planet…We will need human total eradication for evolution to take over in another form over millons of years whilst there is still air for us to breath..and a planet that is still in one piece. Fact not fiction.. If you think otherwise you are playing with yourself.. literally.

- macsporanent@gmail.com
  Aug 12, 2012 @ 15:28:53
  
  Jack
  
  Go girl. right on wooohooo. I love the cause why not get it started by ending the life of one worthless parasitic human. YOU
  
Ahmed
Aug 12, 2012 @ 01:59:28

I want Ask you a question… so we can breath inside the mars atomosphere? if we can breath over there.. we can live also there.. how about water… is there any water river?

Curiosity rover makes tracks on Mars in successful test drive

MORE: NASA lands Curiosity rover on Mars

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