Photos: Curiosity Rover's First Drive on Mars

Mars Rover Curiosity: 1st Drive Panorama

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity took this panorama on Mars on Aug. 22, 2012, just after its first test drive. The landing site has been named "Bradbury Landing" in honor of the late sci-fi author Ray Bradbury.

Bradbury Landing on Mars

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity took this image its landing site "Bradbury Landing" on Aug. 22, 2012, after a successful test drive. The landing site is named in honor of the late science fiction author Ray Bradbury, and taken on what would have been his 92nd birthday.

Curiosity's Tire Tracks on Mars

This image was taken by Navcam: Right A (NAV_RIGHT_A) onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 16 (2012-08-22 15:03:56 UTC).

Curiosity Tire Tracks and Identifying Markings

This image was taken by Navcam: Left A (NAV_LEFT_A) onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 16 (2012-08-22 15:16:35 UTC).

Curiosity's Tire Tracks and Distant Martian Landscape

This image was taken by Navcam: Left A (NAV_LEFT_A) onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 16 (2012-08-22 15:01:28 UTC).

Curiosity's Tracks on Mars Spell Out 'JPL'

Tracks from the Mars rover Curiosity's first test drive include the name of its maker, "JPL," spelled out in Morse code.

Curiosity's Tire Tracks on Mars with Horizon in Distance

This image was taken by Navcam: Left A (NAV_LEFT_A) onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 16 (2012-08-22 15:00:53 UTC).

Curiosity's Wheel Moving

This still from a set of images shows the movement of the front left wheel of NASA's Curiosity as rover drivers turned the wheels in place at the landing site on Mars. Engineers wiggled the wheels as a test of the rover's steering and anticipate embarking on Curiosity's first drive in the next couple of days. This image was taken by one of Curiosity's Navigation cameras on Aug. 21, 2012.

Curiosity's View From Below

The Curiosity engineering team created this view from images taken by NASA's Curiosity rover front hazard avoidance cameras underneath the rover deck on Sol 0. Image released August 17, 2012.

Curiosity Mars Rover Laser Burns on Goulburn

This photo mosaic shows the scour mark, dubbed Goulburn, left by the thrusters on the sky crane that helped lower NASA's Curiosity rover to the Red Planet. Released on Aug. 22, 2012.

A View From Below the Rover Deck

The Curiosity engineering team created this view from images taken by NASA's Curiosity rover rear hazard avoidance cameras underneath the rover deck on Sol 0. Image released on August 17, 2012.