PASADENA, Calif. (KYTX) - NASA released new photos from Mars taken hours after the rover Curiosity landed.
One shows the improved image after engineers removed dust covers on the rover's lens.
After an eight month, 352-million mile journey, the rover landed exactly where it was aimed, inside a giant crater.
NASA described Curiosity's descent as "seven minutes of terror."
It was soaring at 13,000 miles per hour before the chute opened and slowed it down.
Then a rocket propelled landing platform lowered the rover onto the surface of Mars.
It will be several days before the rover's mast-camera will begin to send high-resolution color images from mars.
Over the next few days, engineers will give the rover a series of long-distance checkups to make sure all of its systems are working.
Then it will begin its two-year mission collecting and testing Martian rocks and soil.
