14 DAY TRIAL // While we wait for the results from the first test of Curiosity's rock drill, which will be the first time a probe recovered a sample from below the surface of a body in the solar system, NASA is keeping us busy with the first ever color image of Curiosity and the tracks it left in the Martian soil from above.
The image comes courtesy of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and its HiRISE camera. There have been some other images of Curiosity's tracks seen from space, but these is the first color one.
The full image shows just how much Curiosity has traveled since it landed a few months ago. While the rover has some 700 meters, 2,300 feet under its belt so far, it doesn't look that impressive in the image from above.
At the far right, you can see the spot where Curiosity landed, the bluish bright spots were made by the crane rockets, as the topsoil was cleaned away, while the darker area is where only the finer dust was blown.
If you follow the tracks to the left, you'll spot all of the places where Curiosity made stops so far as well as Curiosity herself at its current location in Yellowknife Bay, about to make its first drill.