This 'postcard' from the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a view of the martian landscape southwest of the rover. The image was taken in the late martian afternoon at Meridiani Planum on Mars, where Opportunity landed on January 24, 2004 and was released by NASA on January 25.  [NASA]

This image, taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera made available on Sunday, shows where the rover's airbags left impressions in the martian soil. The drag marks were made after the rover successfully landed at Meridiani Planum and its airbags were retracted. The rover can be seen in the foreground. The unmanned, six-wheeled rover landed at 9:05 pm PST January 24, 2004 in Meridiani Planum, NASA said. [NASA]

This image, taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's hazard-identification camera shortly after the rover successfully landed at Meridiani Planum on Mars, shows the view from behind the rover. NASA 's Opportunity rover zapped its first photos of Mars to Earth on January 25, 2004, delighting and puzzling scientists just hours after the spacecraft bounced to a landing. [NASA]

This color image shows the martian landscape at Meridiani Planum, where the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity successfully landed at 9:05 pm PST on Saturday. This is one of the first images beamed back to Earth from the rover shortly after it touched down. The image was captured by the rover's panoramic camera.  [NASA]

US Principal Investigator from Cornell University Dr Steve Squyres describes what they have found from the latest images from Mars during a news conference at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California January 25, 2004. Behind Squyres is a photo of the surface of Mars that was beamed back to Earth by the Mars Rover Opportunity, which landed late January 24, 2004.  [Reuters]