The first color view of the north wall and rim of the crater where NASA's rover Curiosity landed. The picture was taken by the rover's camera at the end of its stowed robotic arm and appears fuzzy because of dust on the camera's cover. (AP Photo/NASA)

The heat shield falls away during Curiosity's descent to the surface of Mars. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

NASA hopes to drive the rover Curiosity to the mountain seen in the distance to investigate its lower layers, which scientists think hold clues to past environmental change on Mars. The rover's shadow can be seen in the foreground, and the dark bands beyond are dunes. This image was taken with a fisheye lens and was "linearized" so that the horizon looks flat rather than curved. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

This is the non-"linearized" version of the previous photo. It was taken by the Mars rover Curiosity with a fisheye lens. NASA hopes to drive the rover Curiosity to the mountain seen in the distance to investigate its lower layers, which scientists think hold clues to past environmental change on Mars. The rover's shadow can be seen in the foreground, and the dark bands beyond are dunes. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

One of Curiosity's wheels can be seen at bottom right in one of the first photos taken after the rover landed on Mars. Part of the rim of crater the rover landed in stretches from the top middle to the top right of the image. It was taken with a fisheye lens, but has been "linearized" so that the horizon looks flat rather than curved. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute, left, descend to the Martian surface. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona)

The inset image shows a closer view of the Curiosity rover and its parachute. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona)