"We have just blown dust all over the place with our descent engines," says one NASA scientist.
A high resolution image showing the horizon and dust particles on the camera have just arrived. Amazing stuff. Extraordinary to see this work so smoothly. The landing was the most complex ever attempted on an alien world. There were celebrations at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in California as the Mars Curiosity rover touches down on the red planet. A huge success for the US space agency.
I feel that the landing of NASA's rover, Curiousity, represented a "huge leapt for Mankind". Firstly, it is the most advanced technology to have reached our neighboring planet for scientific work. Of course Mars' Curiosity is famously not looking for life on Mars, but for signs of ancient habitable environments. This is a prospecting mission. The first job is to find areas where life may have survived had it ever evolved on Mars. Once those places are found – if they exist – scientists will know where to send future missions to look for direct signs of past life on the planet. Thus, it is important to have sent Curiousity so as to further our findings.
