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Curiosity landing on Mars

Curiosity landed 6 August 2012 at 05:32 GMT near the foot of a mountain almost 5 km tall and 155 km in diameter inside Gale Crater, on Mars. During a nearly two-year prime mission, the rover will investigate whether the region ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life.

This is the raw footage of the EDL (Entry, Descent, Landing) as transmitted by NASA TV, starting 1 minute before entry and ending when the first photos are received from Curiosity, after the landing.

And a view of the rover's descent captured by the the Curiosity Mars Descent Imager (MARDI). The instrument shot 4 fps video from heatshield separation to the ground.

For more info visit:

• Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) webpage on the NASA site
• MSL webpage on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) website