'Curiosity' returns photos from surface of Mars

This picture of 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. The view looks north, showing a distant ridge that is the north wall and rim of Gale Crater. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

Aug. 7,2012: The first color view of the north wall and rim of Gale Crater where NASA's rover Curiosity landed Sunday night. The picture was taken by the rover's camera at the end of its stowed robotic arm and appears fuzzy because of dust on the camera's cover. (AP Photo/NASA)

Aug. 5, 2012: In this frame provided by NASA of a stop motion video taken during the NASA rover Mars landing, the heat shield falls away during Curiosity's descent to the surface of Mars. (AP)

Aug. 6, 2012: This image taken by NASA's Curiosity shows what lies ahead for the rover -- its main science target, informally called Mount Sharp. This image has not yet been linearized to remove the distorted appearance that results from its fisheye lens. (AP/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

This image released by NASA on Wednesday Aug. 8, 2012 taken by cameras aboard the Curiosity rover shows the Martian horizon. It's one of dozens of images that will be made into a panorama. (AP/NASA)

This image released by NASA on Tuesday Aug. 7, 2012 shows where Curiosity and its supporting hardware: Sky crane, Curiosity, Back shell, Parachute, and Heat Shield landed on the Martian surface after its successful landing last Sunday. (AP/NASA)

Aug. 6, 2012: The shadow of NASA's Curiosity can be seen in the foreground, and the dark bands beyond are dunes. In the distance the highest peak of Mount Sharp rises about 3.4 miles, taller than Mt. Whitney in California. The Curiosity team hopes to investigate the mountain's lower layers, which may hold clues to past environmental change. (AP/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Through a remarkable combination of engineering and mathematics, NASA precisely positioned a second satellite orbiting Mars to capture the split second when Curiosity fell from the skies. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Aug. 6, 2012: Images released by NASA show the 'Curiosity' rover's first glimpses of Mars. (NASA)

Cheers and applause echoed through the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory late Sunday after the most high-tech interplanetary rover ever built signaled it had survived a harrowing plunge through the thin Mars atmosphere, seen here in an artist's impression. (NASA)

Aug. 6, 2012: This is one of the first images taken by NASA's Curiosity rover, through a "fisheye" wide-angle lens. The clear dust cover that protected the camera during landing has been sprung open. Part of the spring that released the dust cover can be seen at the bottom right, near the rover's wheel. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Aug. 5, 2012: Image shot off a video screen from NASA TV shows members of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) team celebrating inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory after receiving the first few images from the Curiosity rover, in Pasadena, California . (Reuters)

Aug. 5, 2012: Image shot off a video screen from NASA TV shows members of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) team celebrating inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory after receiving the first few images from the Curiosity rover, in Pasadena, California (Reuters)

Aug. 5, 2012Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Flight Director Keith Comeaux (R) celebrates with Martin Greco after the Mars science rover Curiosity's successful landing, at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California . (Reuters)

Aug. 5, 2012: The Mars Science Laboratory team in the MSL Mission Support Area reacts after learning the the Curiosity rover has landed safely on Mars and images start coming in at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (AP)

NASA's Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory as seen on Aug. 12, 2011 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The next time the rover will be seen in this configuration is after it lands on Mars. (Robert Z. Pearlman/collectSPACE.com )