The 2,000-lb. Curiosity, NASA's most advanced rover yet, arrived safely on Mars this morning after a complex entry, descent, and landing sequence that had been described as "seven minutes of terror." 

Curiosity, a mobile laboratory that carries 10 scientific instruments, has been en route from Earth for 36 weeks. Now, it begins its two-year mission to find out whether Mars has ever supported microbial life. It sent its initial image of Mars shortly after touchdown.

Don't miss a life-sized model of Curiosity in the Museum’s exhibition Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration, open through Sunday, August 12.