At approximately 10:31 PM PST, August 5th 2012, the dune buggy-sized Curiosity rover touched down gently onto the surface of Mars, culminating a series of amazing engineering achievements. Once tests of the rover’s systems are completed Curiosity will begin its traverse toward the kilometers tall central peak mound within Gale crater, searching within the strata for new insights into the complex climatic development of the red planet and assessing the astrobiological implications.

Follow the science action over the coming months at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/

To see an amazing rotatable 360 panorama of the landing site (view from the rover), including some awesome layering, click here.

— rover at work (image credit: NASA/JPL)