US space agency’s nuclear-powered rover Curiosity touched down on Mars Sunday.
“Touchdown confirmed for @MarsCuriosity,” said a NASA tweet as its scientists celebrated back in headquarters.The six-wheeled rover, weighing about one tonne, dwarfs all previous robots sent to the surface of the Mars.
It is about twice as long and more than five times as heavy as any previous Mars rover.
It has been equipped with 10 science instruments, including two for ingesting and analysing samples of powdered rock delivered by the rover’s robotic arm.
The rover was on a precise course for a landing beside a Martian mountain to begin two years of unprecedented scientific detective work, according to NASA.
I’m safely on Mars, says rover tweet
A string of tweets on behalf of US space agency Nasa’s rover Curiosity tracks the tense moments before the spacecraft landed on Mars.
“I’m safely on the surface of Mars. GALE CRATER I AM IN YOU!!!,” said an ecstatic tweet after the rover landed safely on Mars.
Moments earlier, another tweet said: “Backshell separation. It’s just you & me now, descent stage. Engage all retrorockets!”
The critical tweets began with the one saying: “Guided entry is begun. Here I go!”.
Less than a minute later, another said: “Parachute deployed! Velocity 900 mph. Altitude 7 miles. 4 minutes to Mars!”.
And then it said: “Heatshield separation. Next up: Radar must lock on ground.”
Soon after landing on Mars, the rover beamed its first photograph which showed a shadow of the rover on the red planet.
“It once was one small step… now it’s six big wheels. Here’s a look at one of them on the soil of Mars,” added a tweet that referred to astronaut Neil Armstrong’s famous words “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” after he set foot on moon.
