Tyre tracks that are out of this world: The incredible images that show Curiosity taking its first drive on the Martian surface

• Rover drove forward 8 feet (2.5m)
• Landing site has now been named Bradbury Landing in honour of the late science fiction author Ray Bradbury
• Comes as new fan-made video claims to show rover's descent in high definition for the first time

Nasa's Curiosity rover has taken its first drive on the surface of Mars.
The rover drove forward 15 feet (4.5 meters), rotating 120 degrees and then reversing about 8 feet (2.5 meters).
Curiosity is about 20 feet (6 meters) from its landing site, now named Bradbury Landing in honour of the science fiction author Ray Bradbury.
Nasa's Peter Theisinger said 'It was a big moment a very big moment.'

Curiosity has taken its first drive on the surface of Mars, and Nasa has released this stunning image revealing its first journey and the tyre tracks it has left on the Martian surface.

Nasa released a 360-degree panorama shows evidence of a successful first test drive for NASA's Curiosity rover.
Visible in the image are the rover's first track marks.
A small 3.5-inch (9-centimeter) rock can be seen where the drive began, which engineers say was partially under one of the rear wheels.

Scour marks left by the rover's descent stage during landing can be seen to the left and right of the wheel tracks.
The lower slopes of Mount Sharp are visible at the top of the picture, near the center.
This mosaic from the rover's Navigation camera is made up of 23 full-resolution frames, displayed in a cylindrical projection.

Nasa also revealed an overhead shot of the rover's first drive.

Nasa said the team will now continue to test the rover.

'We can now focus on checking out other features, and driving further every day,' said a spokesman.
'We're on track to have this incredible rover that can drive to Mount Sharp.'
Curiosity will first head in the direction of Glenelg, a spot in Gale Crater less than 500 meters (yards) away from its current position.
The site contains three different kinds of terrain that NASA scientists aim to explore.

Curiosity rover's wheel tracks on the surface of Mars an image sent from one of the rover's cameras.

This image released by NASA shows tracks made by Curiosity's tires during its first test drive as seen by camera on the right side of the rover

Space fans waiting for Nasa to release its own high definition video of the rover's descent to the red planet have uploaded their ow DIY version to YouTube.
'This a full-resolution version of the NASA Curiosity rover descent to Mars, taken by the MARDI descent imager,' it claims.
'As of August 20, all but a dozen 1600x1200 frames have been uploaded from the rover, and those missing were interpolated using thumbnail data.
'The result was applied a heavy noise reduction, color balance, and sharpening for best visibility.'
However, some commenters have questioned the video's authenticity.
Nasa has not commented on the video, but has said it will release its own HD version of the descent once all the frames have been processed.