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.
The MSL spacecraft—with its payload Curiosity—was launched on November 26, 2011 and successfully landed on Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012 at 12:32 a.m. CDT. Curiosity carries the most advanced payload of scientific equipment ever used on the surface of Mars.
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.
NASA Scientists are giving the Curiousity Mars Rover’s landing two thumbs up. Scientists displayed the Rover’s first two photos, saying it appears to have landed in a flat area.
CBS video before the landing: The most complex and expensive robot ever sent to Mars is expected to arrive on the surface of the Red Planet early Monday morning. As John Blackstone reports, NASA scientists will be on the edge of their seats as the spacecraft makes its landing.
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