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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Thumbnail version of Curiosity's first Mastcam color panorama

Thumbnail version of Curiosity's first Mastcam color panorama
Thumbnail version of Curiosity's first Mastcam color panorama Curiosity acquired its first color panorama of its surroundings on sol 3. This preliminary version was made from low-resolution thumbnails of the images returned to Earth the same afternoon. NASA / JPL / MSSS

Scientists will be taking 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 also 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.

The images were taken late Aug. 8 PDT (Aug. 9 EDT) by the 34-millimeter Mast Camera. 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. The images in this panorama were brightened in the processing.