Just turned off the uplink signal - the spacecraft will operate autonomously through landing. Take care Curiosity. Godspeed.
— Bobak F. (@tweetsoutloud) August 6, 2012#msl#jpl#nasa
Right now
— Adam Steltzner (@steltzner) August 6, 2012#CUriosity has transitioned to#EDL mode.This means her fault protection has been battle shorted, and she is going in.
Curiosity is about to vent the cruise stage part of its cooling system in prep for separation
— Ray Baker (@RaySBaker) August 6, 2012#MSL
No comment needed. Entry minus 3 minutes.
— Steven Lee (@LeeCuriosity) August 6, 2012#MSL#EDL twitter.com/LeeCuriosity/s…
And then, after the "seven minutes of terror", in the words (and through the eyes) of the Curiosity rover itself:
It once was one small step... now it's six big wheels. Here's a look at one of them on the soil of Mars
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 6, 2012#MSL twitter.com/MarsCuriosity/…
This monumental scientific achievement quickly inspired an Twitter outpouring of awe, pride, and even a dash of levity:
At the historic landing of
— Congressmember Bass (@RepKarenBass) August 6, 2012@marscuriosity at@nasajpl last night. What an accomplishment!#MSL twitter.com/RepKarenBass/s…
Dear
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012@marscuriosity, Neil deGrasse Tyson signing out on Earth. Back to work - for us both. Closing my Twitterverse wormhole to Mars.
The rover “Curiosity” successfully landed on Mars this AM, proving a historic moment for space exploration and the US. goo.gl/DsCBt
— John Shimkus (@RepShimkus) August 6, 2012
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 6, 2012
@sesamestreet Science is cool. Yip-yip-yip-yip... Uh-huh. Uh-huh.#STEM#MSL
So, uh,
— The Surface of Mars (@surfaceofmars) August 6, 2012@marscuriosity. Hi there.Welcome to the neighborhood.Sorry about the mess.Haven't had guests in a while.
The @MarsCuriosity account will continue to share updates from the rover’s explorations, including photos from the surface of Mars. As Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) once said, “Mars is there, waiting to be reached”. Thanks for taking us there, @NASAJPL team.