We see you!

MAHLI or the Mars Hand Lens Imager at the end of the rover's arm turret has done it again, producing 55 high res images that have been stitched together to give some context of the rover's surroundings, with her as the primary subject!

Curiosity enjoying the paparazzi! (NASA/JPL/MSSS)

That mountain behind her is Mount Sharp. It is kind of weird to see Curiosity framed in front of an extraterrestrial landform because many of us space enthusiasts never get to actually see images of the entire spacecraft sitting on the surface of another planet (let alone in such gorgeous resolution and colour). It's almost like actually being there. Or maybe the alien nature of the planet diminishes on seeing something familiar nearby so it helps to make Mars look more like some other desert on Earth (except for the sky).

If you look closely at Curiosity's cameras and ChemCam (the white box at the top of the mast with one big mirror to the right) you can see reflections of MAHLI! What fun! These images are a not a result of national vanity but will be used to assess dust accumulation on the vehicle and wear on the wheels (there are so many dents on those wheels now). Just to make it easier for my readers, you can access the full resolution version here. Emily over at the planetary society's blog has an educative (as usual) post on this image's projection here.

To top off this post, watch another of JPL's wacky video presentations of what its like be on Mars climate wise. Many of friends and relatives (those who agree to waste their time talking about another world that they might visit) assume that Mars is a rather warm if not hot place. It is anything BUT warm!