Photos: Curiosity rover lands on Mars
- Updated
In another historic achievement in the exploration of the Red Planet, the Curiosity rover landed on Mars overnight Sunday, Aug. 5.
Brian Schratz hugs a colleague as he celebrates a successful landing inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)
- Brian van der Brug/Pool
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity members from left: Richard Cook, MSL deputy project manager, Adam Steltzner, MSL entry, descent and landing (EDL) lead and John Grotzinger, MSL project scientist, California Institute of Technology, from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover mission team celebrate the landing of Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
- Damian Dovarganes/AP
Peter Ilott, center, and his colleagues celebrate a successful landing inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. USA on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)
- Brian van der Brug/Pool
Flight director Keith Comeaux, right, celebrates with Martin Greco after a successful landing inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug,Pool)
- Brian van der Brug/Pool
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden closes his eyes as the rover begins its decent to the surface of mars, inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)
- Brian van der Brug/Pool
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Richard Cook, MSL deputy project manager, left, and Adam Steltzner, MSL entry, descent and landing (EDL) lead, right, point to the first image taken by NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 on the surface of Mars, during a news conference at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, August 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
- Damian Dovarganes/AP
Scientists work inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)
- Brian van der Brug/Pool
FILE - In this file photo taken Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, engineers work on a model of the Mars rover Curiosity at the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity will attempt a landing on Mars the night of Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
- Damian Dovarganes/AP
In this photo released by NASA's JPL, this is one of the first images taken by NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT ). It was taken with a "fisheye" wide-angle lens on the left "eye" of a stereo pair of Hazard-Avoidance cameras on the left-rear side of the rover. The image is one-half of full resolution. The clear dust cover that protected the camera during landing has been sprung open. Part of the spring that released the dust cover can be seen at the bottom right, near the rover's wheel. On the top left, part of the rover's power supply is visible. Some dust appears on the lens even with the dust cover off. The cameras are looking directly into the sun, so the top of the image is saturated. The lines across the top are an artifact called "blooming" that occurs in the camera's detector because of the saturation. As planned, the rover's early engineering images are lower resolution. Larger color images from other cameras are expected later in the week when the rover's mast, carrying high-resolution cameras, is deployed. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)
- NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP
Facundo Lucci, 22, of Philadelphia, center, watches a live stream of the Mars Curiosity landing along with hundreds of other spectators in Times Square, August 6, 2012, in New York. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity landed on Mars Sunday night. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
- John Minchillo/AP
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity team member, Miguel San Martin, Chief Engineer, Guidance, Navigation, and Control at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, left, celebrates with Adam Steltzner, MSL entry, descent and landing (EDL) of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), right, after the successful landing of Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
- Damian Dovarganes/AP
Brian Schratz hugs a colleague as he celebrates a successful landing inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)
- Brian van der Brug/Pool
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity members from left: Richard Cook, MSL deputy project manager, Adam Steltzner, MSL entry, descent and landing (EDL) lead and John Grotzinger, MSL project scientist, California Institute of Technology, from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity Rover mission team celebrate the landing of Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
- Damian Dovarganes/AP
Peter Ilott, center, and his colleagues celebrate a successful landing inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. USA on Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)
- Brian van der Brug/Pool
Flight director Keith Comeaux, right, celebrates with Martin Greco after a successful landing inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug,Pool)
- Brian van der Brug/Pool
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden closes his eyes as the rover begins its decent to the surface of mars, inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)
- Brian van der Brug/Pool
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Richard Cook, MSL deputy project manager, left, and Adam Steltzner, MSL entry, descent and landing (EDL) lead, right, point to the first image taken by NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 on the surface of Mars, during a news conference at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, August 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
- Damian Dovarganes/AP
Scientists work inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration. (AP Photo/Brian van der Brug, Pool)
- Brian van der Brug/Pool
FILE - In this file photo taken Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, engineers work on a model of the Mars rover Curiosity at the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity will attempt a landing on Mars the night of Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
- Damian Dovarganes/AP
This late Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012 PDT photo made available by NASA shows the Curiosity rover, bottom, and its parachute descending to the surface from the vantage point of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
- NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP
In this photo released by NASA's JPL, this is one of the first images taken by NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT ). It was taken with a "fisheye" wide-angle lens on the left "eye" of a stereo pair of Hazard-Avoidance cameras on the left-rear side of the rover. The image is one-half of full resolution. The clear dust cover that protected the camera during landing has been sprung open. Part of the spring that released the dust cover can be seen at the bottom right, near the rover's wheel. On the top left, part of the rover's power supply is visible. Some dust appears on the lens even with the dust cover off. The cameras are looking directly into the sun, so the top of the image is saturated. The lines across the top are an artifact called "blooming" that occurs in the camera's detector because of the saturation. As planned, the rover's early engineering images are lower resolution. Larger color images from other cameras are expected later in the week when the rover's mast, carrying high-resolution cameras, is deployed. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech)
- NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP
Facundo Lucci, 22, of Philadelphia, center, watches a live stream of the Mars Curiosity landing along with hundreds of other spectators in Times Square, August 6, 2012, in New York. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity landed on Mars Sunday night. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
- John Minchillo/AP
Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity team member, Miguel San Martin, Chief Engineer, Guidance, Navigation, and Control at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, left, celebrates with Adam Steltzner, MSL entry, descent and landing (EDL) of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), right, after the successful landing of Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
- Damian Dovarganes/AP
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HiRise has done it again - this time, capturing a photo of the NASA rover Curiosity payload descending toward the surface of Mars beneath its parachute.
HiRISE has done it again. The UA Lunar and Planetary Lab team that operates the high-resolution camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a clear, stunning image of the Mars rover Curiosity descending by parachute toward the surface of Mars on Sunday night.
PASADENA, Calif. - The ancient Martian crater where the Curiosity rover landed looks strikin…
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