NASA's Curiosity is the largest and most advanced robotic rover to ever explore the surface of Mars. The pictures being produced by the mission are also some of the most stunning ever sent back to Earth by a planetary probe. <\/p>\n
Take the most recent image distributed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory that's making the roundsa shot of Curiosity on the surface of the Red Planet taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from space. The picture shows the rover itself and the tracks it laid down on the surface during one of its first treks away from its landing site. <\/p>\n
We've collected that image and others in the accompanying slideshow to highlight the best photos from the Curiosity mission to date. Many have had their color enhanced to bring out details on the Martian surface. <\/p>\n
Curiosity landed on Mars in the wee hours of the morning on Aug. 6, 2012 (Eastern time) after a risky descent that had the Mission Control team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. and viewers around the worldon the edge of their seats. <\/p>\n
Just minutes after landing was confirmed, Curiosity's orbiting partner transmitted the first dusty thumbnail images the rover had taken with her rear hazmat cameras. Two hours later, during the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's second flyover, high-resolution images came down showing rocks and the rim of Gale Crater, where the rover landed at a site named after the late science fiction writer Ray Bradbury. <\/p>\n
There would be many more images from Curiosity in the weeks that followed, including a large batch taken by the rover and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that were released by NASA several weeks ago. <\/p>\n
High-resolution shots of Curiosity's thrilling descent, meanwhile, were recently assembled by visual effects editor Daniel Fitch to create a composite video of the rover's harrowing landing on Mars. <\/p>\n
Photographer Andrew Bodrov also stitched together many of the Mars images to create a stunning, 360-degree panorama and a new video was released this week showing an animated demonstration of Curiosity's instrument arm in action (below). <\/p>\n
For more, check out the recent \"Ask Me Anything\" chat that Team Curiosity had on Reddit. PCMag's Meredith Popolo was also at the JPL in California covering the Curiosity rover's arrival on Mars. For more, see her tour of JPL. Also check out 7 Minutes of Terror: Landing the Mars Curiosity Rover and How to Hack NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover. <\/p>\n
For more from Damon, follow him on Twitter @dpoeter. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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NASA Releases Stunning Shot of Curiosity From Orbit<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA's Curiosity is the largest and most advanced robotic rover to ever explore the surface of Mars. The pictures being produced by the mission are also some of the most stunning ever sent back to Earth by a planetary probe Continue reading