Just like a doting parent, the folks over at NASA are fawning over the Curiosity Rover’s every single movement on the Red Planet after landing there earlier this month. Sure, we have seen its first panoramic photo, in addition to a high definition video of its rather pinpoint and accurate landing, so what other “firsts” are there to explore with the Curiosity? Here we are with a 360-degree panorama shot that shows off evidence of a successful first test drive, where Curiosity went forward for approximately 15 feet, rotating 120 degrees followed by reversing for around 8 feet, placing it about 20 feet from its landing site (which has since been named Bradbury Landing). So far, no Decepticons were detected just yet, so Curiosity is free to continue roaming without stumbling into any other intelligent lifeform.
What you see above would include the rover’s first track marks, in addition to a rather tiny 3.5″ rock which could be spotted where the drive began, and engineers claimed it to be partially under one of the rear wheels. The wonders of interstellar travel, and hopefully this space tourist from Earth will be able to capture many more stunning images in the days and months to come.