NASA Updates Us on Curiosity's Progress

14.08.2012
It's been more than a week since , dubbed "Curiosity," . In that time, mission controllers at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., have been checking Curiosity's 10 instruments and updating software for its two-year mission to look for evidence of microbial life on the planet. NASA held a news conference Tuesday to talk about so far.

Incredible Photos

Mars mission leaders showed so far.

For instance, in taken from one of the Rover's navigation cameras, you can see part of Curiosity's deck and power supply on the left, as well as both its low-gain and high-gain antennas which allow for communications between Curiosity, orbiting spacecraft and Earth. Farther out you can see the rim of Gale Crater. On the right, close to the rover, NASA says you can see where the descent stage's rocket engines blasted the ground before it disengaged and flew off to a crash landing.

If you were actually standing on Mars looking at it would appear much different, NASA says. The sky there is red, and the dusty air and surface would make the view seem much blander. To make it easier for scientists to know what they're looking at, NASA has "white balanced" the colors to mimic what the rover would see if it were illuminated with Earth sunlight.

Next Steps