NASA, the U.S. space agency, reports that its Mars rover, Curiosity, has successfully touched down on the Red Planet.
The service camera installed on the $2.5 billion plutonium-powered rover the Mars rover has sent the first photos from the landing site in the Gale Crater, including one showing a wheel of the rover on the surface.
Curiosity's intricate landing sequence - dubbed "Seven Minutes of Terror" by NASA - set the rover down at 9:31 a.m. Moscow time.
Curiosity, the biggest and the most scientifically complex Mars rover, will gradually turn on its scientific equipment to carry out geological and geo-chemical research, to study the planet’s atmosphere and climate, and to search for water and organic substances. Its findings will help to determine whether Mars was ever a habitable planet and whether it has any suitable places for habitation now.
It is NASA's first Mars landing since the Spirit and Opportunity rovers touched down on the Red Planet in 2004.