An image released by NASA on Monday, Aug. 27, 2012, from a test series used to characterize the 100-millimeter Mast Camera on NASA's Curiosity rover taken on Aug. 23, 2012, looking south-southwest from the rover's landing site. The 100-millimeter Mastcam has three times better resolution than Curiosity's 34-millimeter Mastcam, though it has a narrower field of view. The gravelly area around Curiosity's landing site is visible in the foreground. Farther away, about a third of the way up from the bottom of the image, the terrain falls off into a depression (a swale). Beyond the swale, in the middle of the image, is the boulder-strewn, red-brown rim of a moderately-sized impact crater. Farther off in the distance, there are dark dunes and then the layered rock at the base of Mount Sharp. Some haze obscures the view, but the top ridge, depicted in this image, is 10 miles (16.2 kilometers) away. Scientists enhanced the color in one version to show the Martian scene under the lighting conditions we have on Earth, which helps in analyzing the terrain.

In this image released by NASA on Monday, Aug. 27, 2012, a photo taken by the Mast Camera (MastCam) highlights the geology of Mount Sharp, a mountain inside Gale Crater, where the rover landed.

This screen grab from NASA Television shows an image transmitted from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover shows the rover's wheel and the rocky terrain of the Martian surface indicating a successful landing on the Red Planet on August 5, 2012, taken at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. NASA's 2.5 billion USD Mars rover on August 5 made a dramatic touchdown on the Red Planet, marking a successful end to the most sophisticated Mars attempt in history.

This screen grab from NASA Television shows an image transmitted from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover shows the rover's wheel and the rocky terrain of the Martian surface indicating a successful landing on the Red Planet on August 5, 2012, taken at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. NASA's 2.5 billion USD Mars rover on August 5 made a dramatic touchdown on the Red Planet, marking a successful end to the most sophisticated Mars attempt in history.

This screen grab from NASA Television shows the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover Mission Control room erupting in celebration as an image transmitted from the Curiosity Rover (on screen in background) confirms a successful landing on the Red Planet on August 5, 2012 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. NASA's 2.5 billion USD Mars rover on August 5 made a dramatic touchdown on the Red Planet, marking a successful end to the most sophisticated Mars attempt in history.

This screen grab from NASA Television shows the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover Mission Control room erupting in celebration as an image transmitted from the Curiosity Rover confirms a successful landing on the Red Planet on August 5, 2012 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. NASA's 2.5 billion USD Mars rover on August 5 made a dramatic touchdown on the Red Planet, marking a successful end to the most sophisticated Mars attempt in history.

This screen grab from NASA Television shows the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover Mission Control room erupting in celebration as an image transmitted from the Curiosity Rover confirms a successful landing on the Red Planet on August 5, 2012 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. NASA's 2.5 billion USD Mars rover on August 5 made a dramatic touchdown on the Red Planet, marking a successful end to the most sophisticated Mars attempt in history.

MSL Flight director Keith Comeaux (R) celebrates with Martin Greco after a successful landing inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California on August 5, 2012. NASA's 2.5 billion USD Mars rover Sunday made a dramatic touchdown on the Red Planet, marking a successful end to the most sophisticated Mars attempt in history.

Telecom engineer Peter Ilott (C) hugs a colleague, celebrating a successful landing inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California on August 5, 2012. NASA's 2.5 billion USD Mars rover Sunday made a dramatic touchdown on the Red Planet, marking a successful end to the most sophisticated Mars attempt in history.