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JPL Mission Control: Touchdown confirmed.

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We're safe on Mars.

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(Cheering)

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Narrator: With those words, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory

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landed successfully inside Gale Crater on the red planet,

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sending mission control into a jubilant celebration.

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The excitement of the moment was shared by nearly

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7,000 people, who were on hand at

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NASA Ames Research Center to watch the live TV broadcast.

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The touchdown was the moment of truth during

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an evening celebration that highlighted the NASA Ames

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contributions to the MSL mission.

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Some of these include: the Chemistry and Mineralogy

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or CheMin x-ray diffraction instrument on board Curiosity;

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the PICA heat shield - developed and tested

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using the Arc Jet facility at Ames;

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the supersonic parachute - tested in the world's

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largest wind tunnel;

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a group of sensors called the MSL Entry, Descent

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and Landing Instrument, or MEDLI, that was embedded

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into the PICA heat shield;

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and the Mars Science Interface, or MSLICE, software

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that will be used by the science team to plan

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and execute rover operations on Mars

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over the next two years.

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Before the sun went down and the NASA TV broadcast

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began, attendees were able to ask Ames scientists

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questions about the mission and see hands-on

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displays about their work.

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(Center Director Pete Worden welcoming attendees)

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The audience also heard presentations from NASA Ames

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Center Director Pete Worden as well as several researchers

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from Ames who talked about MSL and the role

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the Center played in supporting the mission.

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During the last hour before landing, the NASA TV broadcast

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from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory took center stage.

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Everyone watched as the tension built for the big event.

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When the good news from the Curiosity rover came

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back to Earth, the team at JPL cheered their success.

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And thousands of space exploration fans at NASA Ames

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shared their jubilation.

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While thrilled that the landing was a historic achievement,

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Ames scientists are now gearing up for the next phase

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of the mission...as Curiosity spends the next two years

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exploring on the Martian surface.