( CNN ) -- NASA released the first color images of the surface of Mars from its new rover Curiosity on Tuesday , showing a dusty , tan desert dominated by the rim of the crater where the craft landed . The image -- shot at an angle by a camera on Curiosity 's still-stowed robotic arm -- shows the sandy plain ahead of the rover and the northern rim of Gale Crater , where the rover touched down early Monday . The image was shot through a retractable , transparent dust shield over the lens , making it `` kind of murky , '' said Ken Edgett , a senior scientist for the camera 's builder , Malin Space Science Systems . Controllers wanted to make sure the camera still functioned after Curiosity 's 352-million-mile voyage and harrowing landing early Monday , Edgett told reporters at NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena , California . Read more on the Mars Rover : Is all this necessary ? `` This was basically a focus test , '' he said , adding , `` It works . It 's awesome . We ca n't wait to open it and see what else we can see . '' The crater rim seen in the photo is more than 20 km ( 12.5 miles ) from the rover , Edgett said . Other images beamed back in the first day and a half since the landing include 297 low-resolution color images of the final minutes of its descent . The pictures , posted on the space agency 's website , show some of the gyrations Curiosity went through beneath its parachute and the dust kicked up as it touched down . The $ 2.6 billion rover made its dramatic arrival on Martian terrain in a spectacle popularly known as the `` seven minutes of terror . '' The landing involve a sky crane and the world 's largest supersonic parachute , which allowed the spacecraft carrying Curiosity to target the landing area that scientists had meticulously chosen . The probe was in `` great shape '' 36 hours after landing as NASA starts to activate the rover 's systems , mission manager Michael Watkins said Tuesday afternoon . But he noted that adjustments need to be made to at least two systems . Read more : Curiosity opening Martian frontier ? Controllers plan to spend Curiosity 's next day raising the mast that holds many of its remote sensors and tweak the high-bandwidth antenna that connects the rover to Earth . `` The antenna mechanism is in fine shape , but it was not quite pointed accurately enough at the Earth for us to get the telecom signal that we wanted , '' Watkins said . And the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station `` did not work correctly '' the second time the team tried to test its sensors , leading the researchers behind that project to go back and re-check the unit 's data files . `` I would say that it does not appear to be significant at this time , '' Watkins said . `` But these guys are off working it , and it 's their baby . Let 's let them think about it for a while . '' The unit , known as the REMS , monitors ground and air temperatures , humidity , atmospheric pressure and ultraviolet light . Despite the glitches , Watkins said controllers remain in high spirits . `` These are the days that people worked five and 10 years for , going on right now , '' he said . Take our Mars quiz . Curiosity is essentially a car-sized mobile science laboratory , packing 17 cameras , a laser that can survey the composition of rocks from a distance and instruments that can analyze samples from soil or rocks . The aim is to determine whether Mars ever had an environment capable of supporting life . Its prime target is the 18,000-foot ( 5,500-meter ) peak at the center of Gale Crater , Mount Sharp . The stratified composition of the mountain could give scientists a layer-by-layer look at the history of the planet . Curiosity 's landing site is about 12 km ( 7.5 miles ) from the foot of the mountain , NASA project scientist Sara Milkovich said . The rover is supposed to last for two years on Mars , but it may operate longer -- after all , Spirit and Opportunity , which arrived on Mars in 2004 , were each only supposed to last 90 Martian days . Spirit stopped communicating with NASA in 2010 after getting stuck in sand , and Opportunity is still going .
NEW : Controllers to tweak antenna , work on sensor glitch , mission manager says . Comment: The $ 2.6 billion Curiosity made its dramatic arrival on Martian terrain Monday . `` The image sequence received so far indicates Curiosity had , as expected , a very exciting ride , '' NASA says .