Curiosity rover Mars landing – as it happened
NASA's Curiosity rover has successfully landed on Mars! The first pictures are expected shortly. (Guardian liveblog) - At 06.14 BST Nasa's Curiosity rover touched down safely in Gale Crater on Mars following a complex landing sequence, leading to scenes of jubilation at mission control. Follow the landing, as it happened, here.
Reuters: NASA rover Curiosity makes historic Mars landing, beams back photos
Washington Post: ‘Touchdown confirmed’: NASA rover Curiosity lands on Mars, beams back photo of own shadow - The robotic explorer Curiosity’s daring plunge through the pink skies of Mars was more than perfect. It landed with spectacular style, said a NASA scientist, describing the first images of its mechanical gymnastics. Hours after NASA learned the rover had arrived on target, engineers and scientists got the first glimpses of the intricate maneuvers it made to hit the Martian soil safely. The extraterrestrial feat injected a much-needed boost to NASA, which is debating whether it can afford another robotic Mars landing this decade. At a budget-busting $2.5 billion, Curiosity is the priciest gamble yet, which scientists hope will pay off with a bonanza of discoveries and pave the way for astronaut landings.