This image is a part of the first 360-degree panorama in color
of the Gale Crater landing site taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover.
The thumbnail images were taken on Aug. 9, 2012, by the
34-millimeter Mast Camera. Click at the image after the jump, to
see the panorama in Full size. Image credit: NASA/JPL-
Caltech/MSSS Click to enlarge Image credit: NASA/JPL-
Caltech/MSSS This panorama mosaic was made of 130 images of 144
by 144 pixels each. Selected full frames from this panorama,
which are 1,200 by 1,200 pixels each, are expected to be
transmitted to Earth later. Scientists will take a closer look
at several splotches in the foreground that appear gray. These
areas show the effects of the descent stage’s rocket engines
blasting the ground. What appeared as a dark strip of dunes in
previous, black-and-white pictures from Curiosity can be seen
along the top of this mosaic, but the color images also reveal
additional shades of reddish brown around the dunes, likely
indicating different textures or materials.