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,â€� said John Holdren, President Obama’s science and technology advisor. “Nobody has ever done anything like this.â€�  (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.â€� 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)