NASA's rover has landed in a geologist's paradise, and could discover if Mars had the ingredients to support life. We look at the possible itinerary
"Touchdown confirmed!" said landing engineer Allen Chen at 10.32 pm Pacific time on 5 August. "We're safely on Mars." Scientists and engineers hugged and punched the air as confirmation of the Curiosity rover's landing reached Earth.
It was a "miracle of engineering", says project scientist John Grotzinger at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California. "Everything went so smoothly, I had to keep reminding myself it wasn't a test run."
Having nailed its death-defying landing, the 1-tonne Curiosity is ready to begin the main phase of its mission on the Martian surface, due to last for a minimum of two years: to find out whether the Red Planet had the crucial ingredients that could once have supported life.
The rover touched down about 2 kilometres east of the centre of the ellipse that flight engineers were aiming for, in the north-west quadrant of Gale Crater.
Its eventual destination is Aeolis Mons – also known as Mount Sharp – a 5-kilometre-high mountain in the crater's centre
. As Curiosity climbs the peak's lower slopes, it should encounter layers of sediments described by mission manager Mike Watkins as a "treasure trove".