Panorama reveals a colorful Mars and Exclusive 3D view and more phtos by Curiosity

A low-resolution mosaic of images from NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars shows part of a 360-degree panorama in Gale Crater. The shadow of the rover's camera mast can be seen in the lower left corner, and a rover wheel is visible in the lower right corner. The foothills of 3-mile-high Aeolis Mons, also known as Mount Sharp, stretch out in the background.

The picture unveiled today at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., isn't the best imagery that the rover's Mastcam is capable of. It was put together from 130 images, each measuring a mere 144 by 144 pixels. The high-resolution version goes eight times wider, but that also means it's a much bigger load of data. Curiosity just hasn't had the bandwidth to send it yet.

Exclusive Photos from CURIOSITY:

  Panorama Exclusive 3D views :

Break out your 3-D glasses! NASA's new Mars rover has beamed back its first 3-D photos of the Red Planet. The Mars rover Curiosity snapped the three-dimensional photos by combining images from the robot's navigation cameras, which operate in pairs to provide stereo views of the Martian surface.