<p><strong>Following the <a href="http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/">Curiosity rover</a>'s successful landing on <a href="http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/mars-article/">Mars</a> last week, the world held its breath for the first images the rover transmitted from the planet's surface.</strong></p><p>One of the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> rover's eight hazard-avoidance cameras shot this black-and-white picture of Curiosity's own shadow stretching toward Mount Sharp on August 6.</p><p>Centered in Gale Crater, the 18,000-foot (5,500-meter) peak "is taller than any mountain in the lower 48 [U.S.] states," geologist <a href="http://www.gps.caltech.edu/people/grotz/profile">John Grotzinger</a>, part of the Curiosity team, said at a July 16 press conference.</p><p>The goal is for the rover—also called the Mars Science Laboratory—to climb Mount Sharp and analyze layers spanning all of Mars's major geological epochs.</p><p>(Related: <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/08/pictures/120807-first-color-pictures-nasa-space-mars-science-laboratory/#/first-pictures-new-mars-rover-mountain_58038_600x450.jpg">"First Color Mars-Rover Pictures Space Shots of Crashed Gear."</a>)</p><p><em>—Kastalia Medrano</em></p>