"They are working furiously," he said. "It's an expensive vehicle. We can't be rushed to send up something that could be dangerous."

During today's news conference, NASA released more photos taken by the robotic rover. Some of the photos were of the rover itself covered with a spray of pebbles kicked up during landing, while others were full-color images of the Martian landscape.

"Curiosity continues to behave flawlessly," Watkins said. "We had another great day on Mars."

This full-resolution image of the Martian surface was taken by Curiosity's navigation cameras. The rim of the Gale Crater is seen in the distance. (Image: NASA)

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at , on or subscribe to . Her email address is .