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10 of 12 from Curiosity rover's first photos from Mars (pictures)
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During its descent, Curiosity snapped this picture of its 15-foot-diameter heat shield about 3 seconds after its separation from the rover and about 2.5 minutes before landing on Mars. The photo was taken by the rover's Mars Descent Imager instrument, aka MARDI, and is one of the first color images that Curiosity sent back -- in low resolution, to allow for a prompt return of the images to Earth.
August 6, 2012 5:40 AM PDT
Photo by: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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