Dr. STEVE SQUYRES (Chief Scientist): We've gotten the first images from the descent camera back.

NPR: Mars Rover Marks Second Anniversary of Landing

Less than a day after touchdown, chief scientist Steve Squyres reported good news.

NPR: Mars Rover Marks Second Anniversary of Landing

But Steve Squyres says these "newberries" seem to have a quite distinct composition.

BBC: Nasa's 'Oppy' rover could be rolling on Martian clays

The crew is led by Nasa astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, and includes Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and planetary sciences expert Steve Squyres.

BBC: UK astronaut Tim Peake makes 'asteroid splashdown'

"People have got to realise this mission will be different, " commented Steve Squyres, the lead scientist of the Opportunity and Spirit rovers put on the surface in 2004.

BBC: Nasa's Curiosity rover successfully lands on Mars

"Ron Greeley was a valued colleague and friend, and this scene, with its beautiful wind-blown drifts and dunes, captures much of what Ron loved about Mars, " said Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.

MSN: A stunning close-up of Mars taken by visiting NASA rover

But even if Curiosity finds them, that's not proof that life existed -- after all, these molecules are found in bus exhaust and meteorites, too, says Steve Squyres, part of the Mars Science Laboratory science team.

CNN: Rover Curiosity near Mars landing