The Flickrverse was watching in anticipation, when Curiosity—the NASAs most advanced Mars rover to date—started its descent and touched down on Aeolis Paulus this morning.

While the fate of the jar of “lucky peanuts” at the Flight Director’s station at NASA’s JPL has not been confirmed, Curiosity already began its extensive task exploring the climate and geology of Mars and determining if the red planet ever could have supported life, ultimately planning for a human mission to the fourth planet in our Solar System.

Photos from navid j, Zachary Bailey, nasa hq photo, and ladycrumb.