NASA Curiosity Lands on Mars

Cheers and applause echoed in the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory late Sunday as NASA's Curiosity made a perfect landing on Mars.  Shortly after landing Curiosity began beaming images back to earth. Curiosity's mission goal is to study the basic ingredients essential for life including carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, sulfur and oxygen. On the 8 month voyage to Mars, Curiosity studied the radiation levels for future human travel to the planet.  Curiosity will sit for 6 weeks while running tests before making its first step across the martian soil.  The next mission to Mars is planned for 2018 and the United States is partnering with the European Space Agency on a rock collecting mission where the probe will travel to Mars and return to Earth.

 Photo from Mars send by Curiosity after landing.

  Photo from Mars send by Curiosity after landing.

 Photo of Mars landscape from 1976 Viking 2 mission. 

The Valles Marineris rift is 10 times longer, five times deeper, and 20 times wider than the Grand Canyon spanning almost a third of the planet.  This image was a composite from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft.

This image was a composite from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. 

Image of the Earth and the Moon from 88,000 miles taken from Mars Odyssey Spacecraft.