first drive will be a very short one. Before the rover starts any meaningful trek across the Martian surface, scientists will first simply drive it forward and back in the landing area, to test the wheels and motor system, according to John Grotzinger, a project scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a geology professor at the California Institute of Technology.

This full-resolution self-portrait shows the deck of NASA's Curiosity rover from the rover's Navigation camera. The back of the rover can be seen at the top left, and two of the rover's right side wheels can be seen on the left. The undulating rim of Gale Crater forms the lighter color strip in the background. Bits of gravel, about 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) in size, are visible on the deck of the rover. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

"The excitement from the science team is that all the instruments continue to check out," he said during a press call Friday. "If we continue down the nominal path, it's probably going to be a couple of days. Sometime next week you'll hear about successful tests of the first wheel motions."

Once the wheels are successfully tested, scientists will continue Curiosity's first real trek, which will take it west toward an area NASA has dubbed Glenelg.

"The Glenelg area -- it simply looks distinctive and interesting," said Grotzinger. "It looks cool. Let's go there and see what's there."