Success! At 1:31 a.m. EST on Aug. 6, 2012, Earth received news that NASA's Curiosity rover touched down safely on Mars. This is the first high-resolution image taken by Curiosity from the surface of Mars, showing the dusty floor of the Gale Crater -- the rover's temporary home. Click ahead to see more images from the Curiosity rover landing!
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Curiosity rover catches a glimpse of its own shadow against the harsh sunlight on the surface of Mars. While the landing took place in the evening for the engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., the rover landed in the middle of the afternoon on Mars. This fish-eye view of the sunshine was provided by the Hazard-Avoidance Camera mounted on the front of the rover. Next up, you might have heard someone mention the EDL -- do you know what it stands for?
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
This is an artist's depiction of the stages of the rover's EDL, which stands for "entry, descent and landing." Next, take a look at how the engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory reacted to the successful landing.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The control room in Pasadena was overflowing with joy after the rover touched down safely. Engineers hugged one another and cried when their years of preparation for this landing finally paid off.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
This is an artist's representation of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) as it enters the Martian atmosphere. The MSL is the name for the mission as a whole, and the name for the spacecraft that delivered the Curiosity rover successfully to the surface of the red planet. To see the very first raw images returned after the rover's landing, click over to the next page!
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory released these blurry, raw images just minutes after the rover set down. This image was taken by Curiosity's right front Hazard Camera.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
And this image is from the left front Hazard Camera.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Sunlight shows over the horizon in this image from the right rear Hazard Camera.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
And here's another angle from the left rear Hazard Camera. If you liked these images, head over to our Curiosity Rover Image Gallery to see what it took to get us this far!
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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