was installed for testing in the 8- by 6-Foot supersonic wind tunnel at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. In the photo, Kyle Webster checks that the model is correctly installed. This model, the smaller of two used in the tests, was used to capture measurements of the off-body pressures that create sonic boom. The model is actually upside down. Depending on the type of test and on the tunnel, the model can be oriented either way. Another model built large enough to house a force measurement balance was used to capture force measurements (lift, drag). The tests are among those being conducted by NASA and its partners to identify technologies and designs to achieve a level of sonic boom so low that it barely registers on buildings and people below. › Read More Image credit: NASA/Michelle M. Murphy

o the scoop to be accessible for inspection by the rover's Mast Camera. The image is part of the first "decontamination" exercise by the Collection and Handling for In-Situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA) tool on the end of the rover's arm, which includes the scoop, the sieve and other components. The decontamination exercise involved scooping some soil, shaking it thoroughly inside the sample-processing chambers to scrub the internal surfaces, putting it through a sieve, dividing it into the appropriate portions and then discarding the sample. This process will be repeated three times. The rinse-and-discard cycles serve a quality-assurance purpose similar to a common practice in geochemical laboratory analysis on Earth. This image was taken by Curiosity's right Mast Camera (Mastcam-100) on Oct. 10, 2012, the 64th sol, or Martian day, of operations. Scientists white-balanced the color in this view to show the Martian scene as it would appear under the lighting conditions we have on Earth. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

e circular black and white images were taken by ChemCam to look for the pits produced by the laser. The purple circles indicate where the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer trained its view. This image was obtained by Curiosity's Mast Camera on Sept. 22, 2012, or sol 46. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

fter landing. Viewing in 3D requires the traditional red-blue glasses, with red going over the left eye. The image pairs have large stereo-convergence angles, which means that height differences in the terrain appear exaggerated; for example, the slopes look about ten times steeper than they really are. This exaggeration is useful over very flat terrain such as landing sites. The full image set for these observations can be seen at: http://uahirise.org/releases/msl-3d.php . HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona