STUNNING FIRST PHOTOS OF MARS

This post has been updated to include spectacular 3-D views of Mars.

1st Photos of Mars by Curiosity Rover (Gallery)
By SPACE.com, 7 August 2012.

1. Curiosity Rover and Associated Hardware Spotted on Mars

NASA's Curiosity rover and its landing sky crane, parachute and other hardware are seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in this image released Aug. 7, 2012. Curiosity landed on Aug. 5 PDT.

2. Sky Crane's Final Resting Place

This image shows the crash site of the Mars rover Curiosity's sky crane, the rocket-powered backpack that lowered Curiosity down to the Martian surface on Aug. 5 PDT, 2012. Image released Aug. 7.

3. Curiosity's Backshell and Parachute Seen by MRO

The parachute and backshell of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity are seen in this photo from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter released on Aug. 7, 2012. Curiosity landed on Mars on Aug. 5 PDT.

4. Mars Rover Curiosity's 1st Colour Photo - Gale Crater Rim

This photo taken by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the north wall and rim of Gale Crater. The image is the first colour photo snapped by Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the afternoon of the first day after landing. NASA released the image on Aug. 7, 2012.

5. Mars Rover Curiosity's Descent Imager Sees Heat Shield Separation

This colour thumbnail image was obtained by NASA's Curiosity rover during its 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.

6. Mars Rover Curiosity Photographs Mount Sharp

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity snapped this picture of Mount Sharp with its front Hazard Avoidance camera, or Hazcam. The photo was released by NASA on Aug. 6, 2012.

7. Mars Rover Curiosity's Rear Hazcam Photo

This full-resolution version of one of the first images taken by a rear-left Hazard-Avoidance camera on NASA's Curiosity rover, was released on Aug. 6, 2012.The image was originally taken through the "fisheye" wide-angle lens, but has been "linearized" so that the horizon looks flat rather than curved. Part of the rim of Gale Crater can be seen from the top-middle to the top-right of the image, and one of the rover's wheels is pictured at the bottom right.

8. Mars Rover Photographs Mars Surface Dust Swirls

This image from Curiosity's Mars Descent Imager illustrates the roughly circular swirls of dust kicked up from the Martian surface by the rocket motor exhaust. At this point, Curiosity is about 70 feet (20 meters) above the surface. This dust cloud was generated when the Curiosity rover was being lowered to the surface while the sky crane hovered above. Curiosity landed on Mars on the night of Aug. 5, and this photo was released by NASA on Aug. 6, 2012.

9. Mars Rover Curiosity Landing From Orbit 2

NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Curiosity descended to the surface on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT). The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured this image of Curiosity while the orbiter was listening to transmissions from the rover.

10. Mars Rover Curiosity Landing From Orbit

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is spotted descending to the Martian surface under its parachute in this amazing photo by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Aug. 5 PDT, 2012.

11. Curiosity's Front Hazcam View Right on Sol 0

This image was taken by Front Hazcam: Right A (FHAZ_RIGHT_A) on-board NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 0 (2012-08-06 06:23:34 UTC).

12. Curiosity's Front Hazcam View Left on Sol 0

This image was taken by Front Hazcam: Left A (FHAZ_LEFT_A) on-board NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 0 (2012-08-06 06:23:34 UTC).

13. Curiosity's Rear Hazcam View Left on Sol 0

This image was taken by Rear Hazcam: Left A (RHAZ_LEFT_A) on-board NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 0 (2012-08-06 06:24:48 UTC).

14. Curiosity's Rear Hazcam View Right on Sol 0

This image was taken by Rear Hazcam: Right A (RHAZ_RIGHT_A) on-board NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 0 (2012-08-06 06:24:48 UTC).

15. Mars Rover Curiosity Photographs Surface of Mars

This image was obtained by Curiosity's Mars Descent Imager and is representative of the images acquired once the Curiosity rover was resting on the surface of Mars after touchdown. It illustrates a narrow sunlit strip of the pebble-covered surface while the rest of the view is in the shadow of the rover. It was taken seconds after touchdown on the night of Aug. 5, 2012. The photo was released by NASA on Aug. 6, 2012.

16. Mars Rover Curiosity Landing From Space

This still from NASA TV shows a photo of the Mars rover Curiosity under its parachute as it landed on Mars on Aug. 5 PDT, 2012. The photo was taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The inset is has been enlarged and adjusted to reduce saturation.

17. One of Curiosity's First Photographs on Mars

This is one of the first images taken by NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT (morning of Aug. 6 EDT). It was taken through a "fisheye" wide-angle lens on the left Hazard-Avoidance camera on the left-rear side on the rover at one-half of full resolution.

18. 1st Mars Photos by Curiosity Rover: Wheel

This photo shows one of the six wheels of NASA's huge rover Curiosity on Mars just after the rover's Aug. 5 PDT, 2012 landing in Gale Crater. This image is an enlarged version from the original 256-pixel image.

19. Curiosity Descending with Heat Shield Visible After Ejection

As NASA's Curiosity rover descended to the surface of Mars the night of August 5, 2012, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured an image of the rover gliding on its parachute (top inset). Further examination shows what appears to be the heat shield (lower inset) which appears to be free falling as its landing would create a dust cloud. Image released August 6, 2012.

20. 1st Thumbnail from Curiosity Rover

Very first image from Curiosity rover on Mars, as seen at JPL in Pasadena, California, August 5, 2012.

21. Cameras on Mars Rover Curiosity

This graphic shows the locations of the 17 cameras on NASA's Curiosity rover. The rover's mast features seven cameras. There is one camera on the end of a robotic and nine cameras hard-mounted to the rover, eight for navigation and one for descent imagery.

Top image: One of the first images (enlarged version) of Mars minutes after the Curiosity rover's successful 5 August 2012 landing.

[Source: SPACE.com. Edited.]

Related Post: First Images of Mars Landing

UPDATE:

Here are the latest images - in 3-D - of Mars.

This image is a 3-D view in front of NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT). The anaglyph was made from a stereo pair of Hazard-Avoidance Cameras on the front of the rover. The image is cropped but part of Mount Sharp, a peak that is about 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) high, is still visible rising above the terrain. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

This image is a 3-D view behind NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT). The anaglyph was made from a stereo pair of Hazard-Avoidance Cameras on the rear of the rover and released Aug. 7. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

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