NASA's most ambitious mobile space laboratory, the Mars rover Curiosity, has officially touched down on the Red Planet's surface, marking the successful completion of the first stage of NASA's mission - getting a sophisticated rover to Mars.
Curiosity landed at 1:32 a.m. EDT on August 6 and sent its first images back to Earth after surviving a seven-minute entry through the atmosphere. It gently touched down with the help of what NASA describes as "ropes from a rocket backpack." Curiosity will now begin a two-year scientific investigation into the Martian planet's geological and biological composition.
Mars rover Curiosity landed near the foot of a three-mile high mountain in the Gale Crater. NASA chose to land the rover there so that it would not have to cover as much terrain on land to get to where it will begin its investigations.
The Curiosity rover, part of a $2.5 billion mission, will collect data on Mars to hopefully help pave the way for future manned missions to Mars.
"Today, the wheels of Curiosity have begun to blaze the trail for human footprints on Mars. Curiosity, the most sophisticated rover ever built, is now on the surface of the Red Planet, where it will seek to answer age-old questions about whether life ever existed on Mars -- or if the planet can sustain life in the future," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.
"This is an amazing achievement, made possible by a team of scientists and engineers from around the world and led by the extraordinary men and women of NASA and our Jet Propulsion Laboratory. President Obama has laid out a bold vision for sending humans to Mars in the mid-2030's, and today's landing marks a significant step toward achieving this goal."
Here are some of the images taken by the Mars rover Curiosity after it landed on Mars:
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