A Curiosity Photo Gallery

We’re used to seeing crystal-clear, high-resolution images from Mars. Various orbiting, stationary and roving spacecraft have been funneling them to Earth for years. We’ve been privy to global photographic maps of the planet, vast panoramas of crater walls, images of dust devils snaking across the landscape, close-ups of spherical hematite concretions, and everything in between. And so to the untrained eye, the photos Curiosity has offered up so far are, frankly, a bit of a disappointment.

Not so to the scientists, engineers and team managers working on MSL. They’re ecstatic. Sometimes they’re so choked up they can barely finish their sentences.

For example, John Grotzinger, MSL project scientist, referred to the very first photo sent back by Curiosity, a blurry mess that would be embarrassed hanging in a modern art museum, as “the best picture of Mars I’ve ever seen.”

And Ken Edgett of Malin Space Science Systems, the principal investigator for Curiosity’s MAHLI camera, when introducing MAHLI’s first image at a press briefing on Tuesday, an image that was essentially a test of the camera’s ability to focus, was practically in tears. (More on MAHLI and the image in a minute.)

So while we wait for better images to come down the pipe – they’ll get here, but it may take a while; Curiosity has to give itself a thorough health checkup first - let’s take a look at just what’s gotten the MSL team so excited.

Our photo tour starts with an image taken not by Curiosity, but rather of Curiosity, as it descended through the martian atmosphere.