Mars rover mission

Mike Watkins, Ken Edgett and Sarah Milkovich discuss new images showing the surface of Mars during a news conference for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge on Tuesday. The Curiosity robot is equipped with a nuclear-powered lab capable of vaporizing rocks and ingesting soil, measuring habitability, and potentially paving the way for human exploration.  (Patrick T. Fallon / Los Angeles Times)

Mars Science Laboratory team members Miguel San Martin, left, and Sarah Milkovich speak during a press briefing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Monday in La Canada Flintridge. Animation of the rover Curiosity is on screen in the background.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Mars Science Laboratory team member Michael Watkins, with a model of Curiosity, speaks during a press briefing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Monday in La Canada Flintridge.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

During a press briefing Monday at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mars Science Laboratory team members Miguel San Martin, left, and Sarah Milkovich watch a video of mission control erupting with joy Sunday night when it was confirmed that Curiosity had landed.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Mars Science Laboratory flight director Keith Comeaux, right, celebrates at JPL with Martin Greco after the landing.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Kelley Clarke, left, celebrates at JPL as the first pictures appear on screen from Curiosity.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Brian Schratz hugs a colleague as jubilant JPL staffers celebrate Curiosity’s successful landing on Mars. “It’s an extraordinary step forward in planetary exploration,” said John Holdren, President Obama’s science and technology advisor. “Nobody has ever done anything like this.”  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Adam Steltzner, right, a leader of the landing team, said that if any one of 76 pyrotechnic explosions failed to occur before landing, “We die.” Officials had spent much of the day Sunday speculating about how Curiosity might fail, and what the consequences might be for America’s space program.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Activity leader Bobak Ferdowsi, center, wipes tears away after the successful landing.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Celebrating the landing of the Mars rover, telecom engineer Peter Ilott hugs a colleague at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Propulsion engineers Todd Barber and Raymond Baker, right, prepare for the landing.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Activity leader Bobak Ferdowsi cuts his hair differently for each mission.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

NASA scientist Jim Garvin, right, talks with musician will.i.am, center, and astronaut Leland Melvin, left, next to a model of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Astronaut Leland Melvin, left, talks to musician will.i.am at Jet Propulsion Laboratory.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

John Grunsfeld, NASA associate administrator, looks back as the spacecraft Cassini is seen in the background during a news briefing at JPL.   (Patrick T. Fallon / Los Angeles Times)

With a model of the Cassini spacecraft as a backdrop, Susan Bell of Oakland sends a Twitter message while participating in a social networking event at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Doug Ellison of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory points out detail in a rubber replica of a Curiosity rover tire.  (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)

Astronomy instructor Brad Snowder of Bellingham, Wash., posts a Twitter message during a NASA social networking event at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.   (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)

Geologist John Grotzinger observes a test at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in preparation for the Mars mission.   (Patrick T. Fallon / Los Angeles Times)

Vandi Tompkin monitors a test at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in preparation for the Curiosity mission.   (Patrick T. Fallon / Los Angeles Times)

At Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Joseph Carsten, left, and Vandi Tompkin watch from beneath the rover model during testing for the Curiosity mission on Mars.   (Patrick T. Fallon / Los Angeles Times)

Scientists take pictures during a test for the Mars mission.   (Patrick T. Fallon / Los Angeles Times)

Joseph Carsten watches a test of the Curiosity rover model at Jet Propulsion Laboratory.   (Patrick T. Fallon / Los Angeles Times)

Caltech geologist John Grotzinger, the Curiosity mission’s head scientist, examines the drill on a mock-up of the rover’s equipment.   (Patrick T. Fallon / Los Angeles Times)

John Grotzinger, project scientist on the Curiosity mission on Mars, watches a test model of the rover bore a hole into a rock at Jet Propulsion Laboratory.   (Patrick T. Fallon / Los Angeles Times)