The most high-tech Mars rover ever built by NASA landed on the red planet earlier Monday morning.
Because the rover was only the size of a small car, NASA used a new landing routine. The plan included Curiosity steering itself in free-fall and deploying a parachute and rockets just before being lowered to the ground by cables.
After those "seven minutes of terror" late Sunday night, NASA received a signal from the rover. President Barack Obama said the landing gives the United States space agency a boost and is an "unprecedented feat of technology".
The Curiosity rover will spend the next two years on a mission to determine if the Mars' environment was ever suitable for microbial life.
The mission cost taxpayers $2.5 billion dollars, making it the most expensive Mars mission to date.
