'The first images from Mars were small, grey and grainy, but they verged on miraculous for the elated Nasa scientists, who hugged, cheered and high-fived on hearing they had pulled off the most daring landing ever attempted on another world.
'The US space agency's Curiosity rover touched down on Mars at 6.14am (BST) on Monday after an apparently perfect entry and descent dubbed the "seven minutes of terror" by Nasa staff. The period referred to the anxious moments during which the spacecraft punched into the Martian atmosphere at 13,000mph, performed a series of exquisite manoeuvres, and came to a standstill on the ground, all without human intervention.' (Guardian article).