Contemporary · North America · Science

2012

Curiosity lands on Mars

August 6, 2012

A car-sized rover descended to the Martian surface in seven minutes of terror, lowered the final stretch by a hovering sky crane in a maneuver that had never been attempted. JPL engineers in red shirts hugged each other on live television. Curiosity would spend the next decade trundling across Gale Crater, sniffing for ancient habitable lakes.

More from 2012 Contemporary

In context

Also in 2012 (4 other events on record)

Higgs boson confirmed · Europe · Science
Malala shot in Swat · South Asia · Politics
Sandy Hook massacre · North America · Disaster
London Olympics open · Europe · Culture

Before and after in North America

Before: April 20, 2010: Deepwater Horizon explodes
After: April 15, 2013: Boston Marathon bombing

Before and after in Science

Before: August 24, 2006: Pluto demoted
After: July 14, 2015: New Horizons reaches Pluto

Era

Contemporary (2001–2026), one of 196 events from that era on Saeculum.

Sources

Wikipedia: Curiosity (rover)