Curiosity: “I’m safely on the surface of Mars”

If you didn’t manage to catch those ‘seven minutes of terror’ earlier this morning for Nasa’s mobile Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), the massive 900kg rover Curiosity, here’s how it worked out. From NasaTelevision

YouTube video

As the Curiosity Rover said on Twitter

Heh.  And the first image from the landing site at Gale Crater. [Images credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech]

Another with Curiosity’s shadow visible.

A higher resolution image soon followed.

Colour images are expected later in the week.  And as the BBC spaceman Jonathan Amos notes

Scientists warn, however, that this will be a slow mission – Curiosity is in no hurry.

For one thing, the rover has a plutonium battery that should give it far greater longevity than the solar-panelled power systems fitted to previous vehicles.

“People have got to realise this mission will be different,” commented Steve Squyres, the lead scientist of the Opportunity and Spirit rovers put on the surface in 2004.

“When we landed we only thought we’d get 30 sols (Martian days) on the surface, so we had to hit the ground running. Curiosity has plenty of time,” he told the BBC.

Initially, the rover is funded for two Earth years of operations. But many expect this mission to roll and roll for perhaps a decade or more.

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.