Curiosity (rover) counted. Previous NASA Mars rovers became active only after the successful entry, descent and landing on the Martian surface. "Curiosity", on the other hand, was active when it touched down on the surface of Mars, employing the rover suspension system for the final set-down. "Curiosity" transformed from its stowed flight configuration to a landing configuration while the MSL spacecraft simultaneously lowered it beneath the spacecraft descent stage with a tether from the "sky crane" system to a soft landing—wheels down—on the surface of Mars. After the rover touched down it waited 2 seconds to confirm that it was on solid
NASA Earth Science NASA Earth Science NASA Earth Science, formerly called the NASA Earth Science Enterprise (ESE), formerly called Mission To Planet Earth (MTPE), is a NASA research program "to develop a scientific understanding of the Earth system and its response to natural and human-induced changes to enable improved prediction of climate, weather, and natural hazards for present and future generations". "To improve life here" and "To understand and protect our home planet," NASA supports research in the Earth Sciences and, as part of its Earth Observing System (EOS), launches and maintains Earth observing satellites to monitor the state of the climate, atmospheric