PASADENA, Calif. (CBS) -- The Mars rover Curiosity is revealing even more glimpses of the red planet.
New pictures from the mars rover Curiosity capture a majestic view of the north rim of the red planet's gale crater. Project scientist John Grotzinger says, "You'd be forgiven for thinking NASA is pulling a fast one on you putting a rover out in the Mohave Desert a little LA smog in there. The first impression you get is how earthlike this seems."
Another shot captures part of Curiosity with the shadow of its robotic arm in the image. Mission manager Jennifer Trosper says, "You can also see the mast is deployed which is excellent. That's what we're looking for."
The camera on the mast is transmitting the new images including a 360 degree black and white panoramic view.
Most of the photos so far are low resolution thumbnails. NASA expects more high resolution images and color versions soon.
Video footage also gives some new insight into Curiosity's tricky dive through the mars atmosphere Sunday night.
Curiosity's is on a two year mission to discover whether there was ever life on mars. So far NASA calls the mission a success. Curiosity's voyage to Mars spanned eight months and 352 million miles.