Universe Today
As Curiosity prepares for the historic first drilling operation on Mars, the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured an image of it from 271 km (169 miles) up, along with twin lines of tracks and the blast marks from the dramatic rocket-powered descent back on August 6 (UTC).
The image here was acquired on Jan. 13, Sol 157 of the MSL mission, as part of a dual HiRISE/CRISM observation of the landing site. According to
The University of Arizona's HiRISE site
it's the first time the rover's tracks have been imaged in color.
Her original landing site can be seen at the right edge. (Wait... did I just say "her?")
– Ross A. Beyer, UofA HiRISE team
Curiosity can be seen as she (yes, it was confirmed today during ScienceOnline2013 that the rover -- like all exploration vehicles --
) was preparing for drilling into a rock outcrop called John Klein within the "Yellowknife" region in Gale Crater. Drilling is expected to begin today, Jan. 31.
Read more about the first drilling to be performed on Mars
in this article by Ken Kremer
, and see more news from the MSL mission
here
.