Boxer Praises Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Lab on Successful Landing of Mars Rover Curiosity

JPL’s Rover Now Begins Two-Year Mission of Discovery on the Red Planet

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today praised Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory after its rover, Curiosity, safely landed on Mars to begin its two-year mission of discovery on the red planet. The one-ton, car-sized Curiosity is the largest and most sophisticated rover ever launched to another planet.

Senator Boxer said, “The successful landing of Curiosity on Mars is an incredible feat and a testament to the exceptional team of scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Lab who led this mission. Congratulations to everyone at JPL and NASA on this important achievement in space exploration.”

The rover landed at Gale Crater on Mars at 1:32 a.m. Eastern Time Monday, eight months after the probe was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. To land safely, the probe had to endure temperatures up to 3,800 degrees Fahrenheit on its heat shield during its descent, and executed a series of S-curves and deployed a supersonic parachute to slow the craft for landing. The rover will now serve as a mobile laboratory, gathering and analyzing samples from rocks, soils and the atmosphere, and beaming back the data and images from Mars.

Senator Boxer visited the Jet Propulsion Lab in June, where she learned more about the mission. More information as well as photos and video from the mission are available here and here.

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