Mars Curiosity Shows Panorama of Landing Site

NASA's Mars Curiosity rover send back images that Earth-based researchers turned into a panorama of the rover's landing site at Gale Crater.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The image shows the Curiosity lander in the foreground and the rim of Gale Crater beyond the pebbly background.  The images were taken from Navigation cameras on Curiosity's mast, which was deployed yesterday.   NASA also said the thrust from the descent engines on the Sky Crane dug a one-and-a-half foot long trench that exposed Martian bedrock, a bonus for scientists.