In just one month, it's driven 368 feet (112 meters) on the red planet. Curiosity's slightly zig-zaggy tire tracks were photographed by a Nasa satellite circling Mars and also from the rover's rear-facing cameras.

When the images from the Martian satellite showed the rover tracks, there was much celebration, mission manager Michael Watkins said on Thursday. He said engineers were thrilled by the idea that "we left tracks on Mars that we can see from orbit" because it gave them a visible sense of accomplishment.

Curiosity will not be travelling any more for several days. Engineers will spend the next week checking out its crucial robotic arm. At the end of that arm is a "Swiss Army knife" of scientific instruments designed to test rocks and the chemicals in the soil, Watkins said.

After the arm and its tools are given clean bills of health, the rover will continue on a trek of more than a week to its first destination, a point called Glenelg, where three types of terrain meet. The rover will likely stop on the way to test its first rocks.

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Nasa Mars robot Curiosity leaves tire tracks