NASA Satellite Captures First Glimpse of Curiosity's Tracks From Martian Orbit

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The little rover is on the go, and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was there to document it.

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NASA's Curiosity rover has been sending back awesome images of the Martian surface since it landed on the red planet in early August. But to see the rover itself, you need the work of another NASA craft, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been circling the planet since 2006. Earlier this week, it was able to capture the above picture of the rover, in which you can clearly see the tracks it has left in the Martian dust. (NASA notes the color in the image has been enhanced to show detail, hence the bluish tinge.)

NASA additionally released a video chronicling the rover's progress so far and previewing the weeks ahead.

Two additional pictures from the Orbiter, mentioned and described in the above video, are below.

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Rebecca J. Rosen is a senior associate editor at The Atlantic. She was previously an associate editor at The Wilson Quarterly, where she spearheaded the magazine's In Essence section.

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