Curiosity Ready to Roll

This view of the lower front and underbelly of Curiosity combines nine images taken on September 9, 2012.

This image shows the Mars Hand Lens Imager on Curiosity, with the Martian landscape in the background.

A penny that is used by Curiosity to calibrate its Mars Hand Lens Imager camera. The penny is covered in Martian dust, September 9, 2012.

One of the five cylindrical blocks of sealed organic material for use in a control experiment if Curiosity's laboratory detectes organic compounds in Martian soil or powdered rock.

This view of three of Curiosity's wheels combines two images taken on September 9, 2012.

A 3.5 centimeter circular opening reveals a piece of basaltic rock from New Mexico that serves as a calibration target for the Mars rover Curiosity’s Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer, September 9, 2012.

A photo taken by the the Curiosity rover's mast camera highlights the geology of Mount Sharp, a mountain inside Gale Crater on Mars, August 27, 2012.

This image shows bedrocks that were exposed after Curiosity's rocket stage fired its engines that blew away soil from the Martian surface.

The Mars Curiosity rover's robotic arm takes aim at Mount Sharp in a mosaic that combines navigation-camera imagery. The shadow of the rover's camera mast is visible in the center foreground.

In a stop motion frame, the heat shield falls away during Curiosity's descent to the surface of Mars.