Three Years into its Mission, Curiosity's Stunning Martian Panorama

It's been three years since NASA's Curiosity rover, carrying the Mars Science Laboratory, made its bold on the surface of Mars.

Since then the rover across a wealth of varied and fascinating terrain. The southward looking panorama here has been stitched together from images taken back in April 2015 with the rover cameras - on Martian days (or sols) 952 and 953 after landing (a solar day on Mars is 24 hours and 39 minutes).

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

It's a marvelous view: from outcroppings and smooth bedrock, to rounded buttes still in the distance. But to fully appreciate the details and the extraordinary 'presence' of Mars you have to poke around this .

Here are a few closeups, and you can explore the whole image directly .

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS