Picture gallery: Nasa lands rover on Mars in historic moment

In this image from Nasa TV, shot off a video screen, one of the first images from the Curiosity rover is pictured of its wheel after it successfully landed on Mars. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Nasa Administrator Charles Bolden smiles as the rover begins its decent to the surface of Mars, inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for Nasa's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on Sunday, Aug 5, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP

Brian Schratz hugs a colleague as he celebrates a successful landing inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for Nasa's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on Sunday Aug 5, 2012. -- PHOTO: AP

Julian Anderson (front, centre) of Detroit, celebrates while watching a live broadcast of the Nasa Mission Control center, as the planetary rover "Curiosity" lands on Mars, in Time Square, in New York, on Aug 6, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Scientists work inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for Nasa's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California on Aug 5, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP

Jasper Goldberg (front, 2nd left), 22, and Andreas Bastian (front, 2nd right), 22, watch a live broadcast of the Nasa Mission Control center, as the planetary rover "Curiosity" lands on Mars, in Time Square, in New York, on Aug 6, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover team member Miguel San Martin (centre) waves an American flag after a successful rover landing, as he arrives for a news conference at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California on Aug 5, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Adam Steltzner (right) celebrates a successful landing inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for Nasa's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California on Aug 5, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP

Image shot off a video screen from Nasa TV shows members of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) team celebrating inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for Nasa's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory after receiving the first few images from the Curiosity rover, in Pasadena, California on Aug 5, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

Image shot off a video screen from Nasa TV shows members of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) team celebrating inside the Spaceflight Operations Facility for Nasa's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover at Jet Propulsion Laboratory after receiving the first few images from the Curiosity rover, in Pasadena, California on Aug 5, 2012. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A general view shows the 70-metre dish that is tracking Nasa's Mars science laboratory car-sized rover Curiosity at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Station at Tidbinbilla in Canberra on Aug 6th, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP

Musician will.i.am (right) and Nasa astronaut Leland Melvin speak during a news conference at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California on Aug 5, 2012. will.i.am attended the conference to promote science and technology education. -- PHOTO: REUTERS