The most sophisticated vehicle ever to visit the surface of the Red Planet Mars landed successfully in the early hours of today ( August 6 ). The 'Curiosity' Martian rover touched down at 01:32 EDT (08:30 Aug 6, Romanian time). According to NASA it was the most complicated landing ever attempted on Mars, but every step went perfectly.

After a 36 week space flight on the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, the Curiosity rover separated from the mother-ship and with the aid of a rocket “backpack” flew down to the surface of Mars. The one ton vehicle landed near the foot of a nearly 5,000 meter mountain, inside Gale Crater. The mission is considered as a forerunner to manned missions to Mars, which US President Barack Obama wants to see happening by the mid 2030s.

Curiosity will spend two years exploring Mars and there are hopes that the mission will find out if the planet ever has, or ever could, support life. “Curiosity, the most sophisticated rover ever built, is now on the surface of the Red Planet, where it will seek to answer age-old questions about whether life ever existed on Mars – or if the planet can sustain life in the future,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

Project Manager Peter Theisinger described the landing as the most hazardous part of the mission, but with the tricky part out of the way, the Mars mission team can now get down to studying Mars more closely than ever before. Curiosity has already sent its first images from the surface of the planet (in picture), but photos are only one small part of the mission.

The rover carries 10 scientific instruments, some of which have never before been used on Mars, such as the laser device that can check the composition of rocks at a distance. Curiosity can also gather samples from the surface of Mars and analyze them onboard.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

photo source: nasa.gov