Curiosity lands safely, is spied by HiRISE in descent to Mars

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Photo: Mars Rover "Curiosity" hangs from its supersonic parachute. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Plummeting through the thin atmosphere of Mars, Mars rover “Curiosity” (still inside its protective enclosure) hangs from its supersonic parachute. White square indicates parachute (above) and protective aeroshell, below. This image captured by the “Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter” spacecraft in orbit around the Red Planet. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s most advanced Mars rover Curiosity has landed on the Red Planet. The one-ton rover, hanging by ropes from a rocket backpack, touched down onto Mars Sunday to end a 36-week flight and begin a two-year investigation.

Photo: Heavily-cropped MRO image of Curiosity on its parachute. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
This is a tight crop of the full image showing the remarkable detail produced by the MRO’s HiRISE instrument – Curiosity in its aeroshell suspended from its supersonic parachute (about 50 ft. in diameter). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft that carried Curiosity succeeded in every step of the most complex landing ever attempted on Mars, including the final severing of the bridle cords and flyaway maneuver of the rocket backpack.

Curiosity landed at 10:32 p.m. PDT Aug. 5, (1:32 a.m. EDT Aug. 6) near the foot of a mountain three miles tall and 96 miles in diameter inside Gale Crater.

During a nearly two-year prime mission, the rover will investigate whether the region ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life.

The rover, powered by a radioactive heat source rather than solar cells, is expected to last at least two Earth years and can continue to operate through the incredibly cold and dark Martian winter. Winter was and is a danger for solar-powered rovers like Opportunity, still operating on the surface of Mars, as is accumulation of light-blocking dust.

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The four main pieces of hardware that arrived on Mars with NASA’s Curiosity rover were spotted by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured this image about 24 hours after landing. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona