Mars: 'Curiosity' Rover Sends Video, 1st Color Image

Atlanta Business News 11:46 a.m. Tuesday, August 7, 2012

NASA's new rover sends back 1st color image, video

By ALICIA CHANG

The Associated Press 

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA's Curiosity rover has beamed back its first color photo from the ancient crater where it landed on Mars and a video showing the last 2 1/2 minutes of its white-knuckle dive through the Martian atmosphere, a sneak peek of a spacecraft landing on another world.

This image released on Tuesday Aug. 7,2012 by NASA shows 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)

This image taken by NASA's Curiosity shows what lies ahead for the rover -- its main science target, informally called Mount Sharp Monday, Aug. 6, 2012. The rover's shadow can be seen in the foreground, and the dark bands beyond are dunes. Rising up in the distance is the highest peak of Mount Sharp at a height of about 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers), taller than Mt. Whitney in California. The Curiosity team hopes to drive the rover to the mountain to investigate its lower layers, which scientists think hold clues to past environmental change. This image was captured by the rover's front left Hazard-Avoidance camera at full resolution shortly after it landed. It has not yet been linearized to remove the distorted appearance that results from its fisheye lens. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The picture released Tuesday revealed a rust-tinged, pebbly landscape and the crater rim off in the distance. The six-wheel rover snapped the photo on the first day on the surface after touching down on Mars Sunday night. It took the shot with a camera at the end of its robotic arm, which remained stowed.
As Curiosity plunged through the atmosphere, a video camera captured the final moments. Nearly 300 low-quality thumbnails were sent back on Monday, which NASA processed into a short video.

MORE: http://www.ajc.com/business/nasas-new-rover-sends-1492604.html

VIDEO: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=1106

FIRST COLOR IMAGE: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA15691

Sources: Jet Propulsion Laboratory--California Institute of Technology, NASA, Associated Press, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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