Curiosity rover touches down on Mars

The first image sent back to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory from the Mars rover Curiosity after it touched down on the Martian surface, Aug. 6, 2012. / NASA

(CBS/AP) PASADENA, Calif. - Dutifully executing its complex flight control software, the Mars Science Laboratory silently raced toward its target Sunday, picking up speed as it closed in for a 13,200-mph plunge into the Red Planet's atmosphere and an action-packed seven-minute descent required a rocket-powered "sky crane" to lower the one-ton nuclear-powered rover to the surface. It went off without a hitch.

"We are wheels-down on Mars," came the news from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as engineers saw the first grainy image beamed directly back from the rover - showing one of its wheels on the Martian surface.

CBS News space consultant William Harwood reports from JPL in California that the rover's target was Gale Crater and the goal was a pinpoint landing near the base of a three-mile-high mound of layered rock that represents hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of years of Martian history, a frozen record of the planet's changing environment and evolution.

Exploring the crater floor and climbing Mount Sharp over the next two years, the Curiosity rover will look for signs of past or present habitability and search for carbon compounds, the building blocks of life as it is known on Earth, explains Harwood.

But first, the rover had to get there and its entry, descent, and landing represented the most challenging robotic descent to the surface of another world ever attempted, a tightly choreographed sequence of autonomously executed events with little margin for error.

Complete coverage of Curiosity from William Harwood at CBS News Space
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"We're about to land a rover that is 10 times heavier than (earlier rovers) with 15 times the payload," Doug McCuistion, director of Mars exploration at NASA Headquarters, told reporters in the hours before touchdown. "Tonight's the Super Bowl of planetary exploration, one yard line, one play left. We score and win, or we don't score and we don't win.

With just 90 seconds to expected entry into the Martian atmosphere, engineers at JPL reported all data showing a flawless descent. The massive parachute deployed correctly, leading to cheers from the control room.

But the room erupted into unbridled joy as confirmation came - first in the form of simple data signals, and then with the first photo showing that the rover had safely settled into the Martian dust.

17 Photos

Meet the new Mars rover

"We are the only country that has ever done anything like this," boasted John Holdren, the senior advisor to President Obama on science and technology issues, who was in the JPL control room as Curiosity touched down. "Many new technologies had to work in perfect synchronization."

Even Holdren's boss chimed in. In a statement released minutes after the successful landing was confirmed, President Obama said it represented, "an unprecedented feat of technology that will stand as a point of national pride far into the future."

Mr. Obama said the Curiosity landing, "parallels our major steps forward towards a vision for a new partnership with American companies to send American astronauts into space on American spacecraft. That partnership will save taxpayer dollars while allowing NASA to do what it has always done best - push the very boundaries of human knowledge. And tonight's success reminds us that our preeminence - not just in space, but here on Earth - depends on continuing to invest wisely in the innovation, technology, and basic research that has always made our economy the envy of the world."

[OBAMA4ALLAH-]

How many more billions is NASA going to waste to tell us over and over that their is no life on Mars regardless if there is water there.
They already know it is too inhospitable to ever have life on Mars.

[rjack61]

I don't believe any of it.

[dickkahrs]

Well done NASA, well done!

[HolisticDNA]

I will confidently predict that once the Rover returns, and testing is done on rock / soil samples, that eventually there will be a test for The "God Particle" / Higgs Boson -- and it will be found there, just like it was here..............

More on this subject in my upcoming book:



The Sixth Sense Activation Sequence

Steve Meyer / HolisticDNA

[mecury69]

Um, the rover is not returning. So, that it either a significant typo or misinformation. Either way, I think I'll pass on your book.

[Wookiee-1138]

"We are the only country that has done anything like this."

Even as a Yank, that hubris rubs me the wrong way.

The pieces of the gadget itself were built by scientists around the world and I'd wager half of the folks in the control center were either born or educated overseas.

As Michio Kaku remarked, American education is such a mess that we're regularly ranked with third world countries.

[mecury69]

Yea, Spain made an antenna.

Nothing wrong with taking national pride in such a grand achievement as this.

The British and Europeans failed in their attempts at landing on Mars.

I'll agree the public education system sucks but foreigners still come to the US for higher education.

[bobnjersey]

[As Michio Kaku remarked, American education is such a mess that we're regularly ranked with third world countries.]
-----------------------------------
is that why most of these high level scientists come to the us for their post-graduate studies and work?

why aren't they going to graduate school in third world countries ... or taking research positions in third world countries?

[formerlyluvnut]

Cool! If only we sent Bush & Cheney on it though; THEN it would not only be a success but also a service to Earth.

[w_roos]

"Oh! Move over, Rover
And let Jimi take over
Yeah, you know what I'm talking 'bout
Yeah, get on with it, baby
That's what I'm talking 'bout
Now dig this!
Ha!
Now listen, baby"

(c) 1967 Jimi Hendrix

[CuriousServant]

HOORAY!!! When the cold war ended I thought we'd stop spending so much on our military, that we would finally turn our eyes to building up our nation and exploring the universe. Instead we spent more than ever, searching for weapons of mass destruction. Now, with ingenuity we have begun again the journey which will safe guard our future, prepare ourselves with what we need to spread our kind through the universe in mind and eventually colonies. Great name for this rover, for it is curiosity which truly drives our species to become more than what we have been.

[jschm2681]

OMNI- you;ll find many fiscal conservative in support of NASA and its projects. The benefits in invention and pride outweigh the costs. So cut the assumption that you think everyone that wants the government to live within its means and stop wasting money is against space exploration. They aren't. In fact there probably the most ardent supporters. It is the leftists that have no vision and can't see the future. So you may want to become more open minded but I doubt from you comment you will. THis is a great achievement we should all be proud of.

[lloydbest1]

I applaud most of your post. I also believe that such achievements have much broader implications than mere bragging rights. There is a helluva lot of good science that has and will come from these missions. The $2B price tag may be a lot to swallow but the potential ROI is tremendous.

But you lost me completely with your sentence below (presumably to omnibus66):

"It is the leftists that have no vision and can't see the future. So you may want to become more open minded but I doubt from you comment you will."

It is the "leftists" who will insure we even HAVE a future let alone one than can be seen.....

[jwilsonte5]

its a shame our country is in a mess and still find billons to spend on curiosity of was there life on mars? how that helps tax payers is the big mysterie

[thechooch1]

jwilsonte5 every party needs a pooper, but no one invited you! Read a couple of the posts and you will easily see the benefits we get from space exploration.

[mecury69]

1. Human life will be either wiped out or reduced to near nothing on Earth via any number of catastrophic events (meteor impact, massive vulcanism, or super flu); it's inevitable. It's happened many times times in the past as proof.

2.This mission cost each American $7.00. How is that going to solve the issues you feel are more important.

3. Finding life on another planet would shed the shackles of man made religion on this planet and truly let the human spirit shine and take over our future.

You may be happy living in a nice safe cave, but others need to get out and explore so we can preserve our species.

There you go jwilson; it's no longer a mystery.