See pic: Stunning layered rocks adorn the surface of Mars – NASA's Curiosity goes click-click!

Image courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

New Delhi: This has to be one of Curiosity's most amazing images! The NASA rover that has been scaling the rocky surface of Mars since August 2012, is presently exploring the “Murray Buttes” region of lower Mount Sharp.

Curiosity has beamed back in what appears to be beautifully detailed colour images of the Martian surface.

Curiosity took the images with its Mast Camera (Mastcam) on Sept. 8. These images will help the Amercian space giant prepare for its much anticipated 2020 mission to Mars.

"Curiosity's science team has been just thrilled to go on this road trip through a bit of the American desert Southwest on Mars," said Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, NASA reported.

The new images represent Curiosity's last stop in the Murray Buttes, where the rover has been driving for just over one month.

NASA further said that, as of this week, Curiosity has exited these buttes toward the south, driving up to the base of the final butte on its way out. In this location, the rover began its latest drilling campaign (on Sept. 9). After this drilling is completed, Curiosity will continue farther south and higher up Mount Sharp, leaving behind these spectacular formations.