A week after NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory landed the Curiosity rover on Mars we've already seen some amazing images.
As a testament to the great team of scientists and engineers on the Curiosity's Crew, so far, everything's been going without a hitch. Here are the latest from the team.
They are still in the process of checking everything out on the rover, and are planning to take it for a test spin in about a week. Stay tuned!
The terrain around the rover's landing site within Gale Crater on Mars.
This huge image was taken from above the surface of Mars using the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The image is color-enhanced to make it easier to see subtle differences on the surface. In reality, the blue colors are more gray.
At the top of the image, you can see Curiosity's landing spot, and the area where the landing stage rockets kicked up dust made the surface look more blue/gray than the area around it. Near the bottom are the foothills of Mount Sharp, which is out of the image frame.
The blast from Curiosity's landing.
Here's a closer up view of that same Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image in the region around Curiosity. This one is also color-enhanced, making the gray look more blue. The differences in color mean that different types of materials are shown, most likely the basalt hidden under dust that the rover kicked up while landing.
These images are helping the team decide what route to take to visit Mount Sharp and figure out what might be the best areas to visit to do some science along the way.
Where Curiosity landed within Gale Crater.
This combined image was created with data from each of the Mars orbiters, updated with new information to show where in Gale crater Curiosity touched down. Gale crater is about the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and Mount Sharp is in the center, rising 3.4 miles above the crater floor.
Toward the lower middle of the image you can see the green dot locating Curiosity, and the blue-outlined "landing ellipse" where the team was aiming.
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