Curiosity, from Mars

 

 

Nasa Mars Yard at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is shown with a model of Mars robot, Curiosity, during a media demonstration, in Pasadena, Calif., Wednesday, July 25, 2012. On Sunday, Aug. 5th, after 8 and a half months in transit, Curiosity will parachute onto the Martian surface to hunt for the chemical building blocks of life. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

 

In this 2011 artist's rendering provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech, the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover examines a rock on Mars. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity will attempt a landing on Mars the night of Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

 

In this 2011 file artist's rendering provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech, a 'sky crane' lowers the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover onto the surface of Mars. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity will attempt a landing on Mars the night of Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

 

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 on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

 

This photo provided by NASA shows a full-resolution version of one of the first images taken by a rear Hazard-Avoidance camera on NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the Sunday evening, Aug. 5, 2012. The image was originally taken through a 'fisheye' wide-angle lens, but has been 'linearized' so that the horizon looks flat rather than curved. A Hazard-avoidance camera on the rear-left side of Curiosity obtained this image. Part of the rim of Gale Crater, which is a feature the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined, stretches from the top middle to the top right of the image. One of the rover's wheels can be seen at bottom right. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

 

Jennifer Trosper, Mars Science Laboratory, MSL mission manager, JPL, adjusts the high-gain antenna on a rover model during a news briefing on the last data and imagery from Sol 1 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Monday, August 6, 2012. The rover's primary mission today will be raising its high-gain antenna, which will enable better communication with JPL scientists. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

 

In this file photo taken Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, engineers work on a model of the Mars rover Curiosity at the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity will attempt a landing on Mars the night of Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

 

Jennifer Trosper, Mars Science Laboratory, MSL mission manager, JPL, left, Michael Malin, principal investigator, Mars Descent Imager, center, and Joy Crisp, MSL deputy project scientist, JPL take questions during a news briefing on the last data and imagery from Sol 1 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Monday, Aug. 6, 2012. NASA has released a low-resolution video of the Curiosity rover during the final few minutes of its descent to the Martian surface. An image shows the protective heat shield falling away as the rover plummeted through the Mars' atmosphere, and dust was being kicked up as it was lowered by cables inside a crater. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

 

This photo provided by NASA shows a full-resolution version of one of the first images taken by a rear Hazard-Avoidance camera on NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the Sunday evening, Aug. 5, 2012. The image was originally taken through a 'fisheye' wide-angle lens, but has been 'linearized' so that the horizon looks flat rather than curved. A Hazard-avoidance camera on the rear-left side of Curiosity obtained this image. Part of the rim of Gale Crater, which is a feature the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined, stretches from the top middle to the top right of the image. One of the rover's wheels can be seen at bottom right. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

 

In this image released by NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona, NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute, left, descend to the Martian surface on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. The high-resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured this image of Curiosity while the orbiter was listening to transmissions from the rover. The inset image is a cutout of the rover stretched to avoid saturation. The rover is descending toward the etched plains just north of the sand dunes that fringe 'Mt. Sharp.' (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona)

 

This artist's rendering released by NASA/JPL-Caltech on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, shows how NASA's Curiosity rover will communicate with Earth during landing. As the rover descends to the surface of Mars, it will send out two different types of data: basic radio-frequency tones that go directly to Earth (pink dots) and more complex UHF radio data (blue circles) that require relaying by orbiters. NASA's Odyssey orbiter will pick up the UHF signal and relay it immediately back to Earth, while NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will record the UHF data and play it back to Earth at a later time. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech )

 

This Aug. 26, 2003 image made available by NASA shows Mars photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope on the planet's closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years. NASA's robotic rover Curiosity landed safely on Mars late Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012 to begin two years of exploration. The mission cost $2.5 billion. (AP Photo/NASA)

 

NASA Associate Administrator John Grunsfeld waits for landing inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)

 

Steve Collins waits during the 'Seven Minutes of Terror' as the rover approaches the surface of mars, inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)

 

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden closes his eyes as the rover begins its decent to the surface of mars, inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)

 

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden smiles as the rover begins its decent to the surface of mars, inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday August 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration.(AP Photo/Brian Van Der Brug, Pool)

 

Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity members from left: John Grunsfeld, NASA associate administrator, Charles Elachi, director, JPL, Pete Theisinger, MSL project manager, Richard Cook, MSL deputy project manager, Adam Steltzner, MSL entry, descent and landing (EDL) lead and John Grotzinger, MSL project scientist, California Institute of Technology, from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover mission team raise their arms celebrate the landing of Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

 

Kelley Clarke, left, celebrates as the first pictures appear on screen after a successful landing inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)

 

Brian Schratz hugs a colleague as he celebrates a successful landing inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)

 

Shannon Lampton, and Charlene Pittman, both educators with the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, cheer as they watch NASA's Mars Curiosity rover land on Mars during a special viewing event at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Monday, Aug. 6, 2012 in Huntsville, Ala. (AP Photo/The Huntsville Times, Eric Schultz)

 

Hundreds watch the images from Mars on the big screen as they watch NASA's Mars Curiosity rover land on Mars during a special viewing event at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Monday, August 6, 2012 in Huntsville, Ala. (AP Photo/The Huntsville Times, Eric Schultz)

 

Gabe Salas, of Rockledge, Fla., and Gloria Lloyd, of Chapel Hill, N.C. post to facebook as they watch NASA's Mars Curiosity rover land on Mars during a special viewing event at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Monday, August 6, 2012 in Huntsville, Ala. (AP Photo/The Huntsville Times, Eric Schultz)

 

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory broke out into cheers as it received confirmation that the high-tech rover Curiosity landed on Mars as 1:31 a.m. Curiosity already is showing images from the planet's surface with a complex new landing technique at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

 

A spectator watches a live stream of the Mars Curiosity landing while listening to an audio broadcast on her phone among the hundreds of other on-lookers in Times Square, August 6, 2012, in New York. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity landed on Mars Sunday night. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

 

Lennon Batchelor, 27, of Orlando, center, pauses while watching a live stream of the Mars Curiosity landing while neighboring spectators cheer in Times Square after the successful touch-down, August 6, 2012, in New York. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity landed on Mars Sunday night. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

 

NASA bloggers celebrate Mars rover Curiosity safe landing into Mars surface with a complex new landing technique at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

 

Telecom engineer Peter Llott, center, hugs a colleague to celebrate the successful landing of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover inside the Spaceflight Operations Facilityat the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, August 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)

 

In this photo provided by NASA, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) team welcomes White House Science and Technology Advisor John Holdren, third standing from left, as he stops by to meet the landing team and to say 'Go Curiosity' as NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, second from left, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director Charles Elachi, far left look on, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012 at JPL in Pasadena, Calif. The MSL Rover named Curiosity is designed to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes. Curiosity is due to land on Mars at 10:31 p.m. PDT Sunday night. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls)

 

This photo released by NASA on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012 shows the view from the balcony of the control rooms at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Dark Room in the foreground, Deep Space Network control room on the right, and the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mission Support Area, back left, in Pasadena, Calif. The MSL Rover named Curiosity is designed to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes. Curiosity is due to land on Mars at 10:31 p.m. PDT on Aug. 5, 2012 (1:31 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6, 2012). (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls)