I'm making a slight deviation from politics to give a tip of the cap to NASA for the stunning new photos they have released -- a panoramic view of the surface of Mars. The high quality pics, taken by the Mars Exploration Rover "Opportunity," shows the terrain where the robot vehicle spent the four-month Martian winter. It's eye-opening to see that the Red Planet looks a lot like Arizona or New Mexico.

Here are a few samples:

The full-circle scene consist of 817 images shot by the panoramic camera (Pancam). You can download the completed package and learn more about the expedition on NASA’s website.