Curiosity has landed. Nasa Administrator Charles Bolden: “Today, the wheels of Curiosity have begun to blaze the trail for human footprints on Mars.”

The Curiosity rover landed safely on Mars in a picture-perfect landing sequence hours ago. If there are no pictures, then it didn’t happen, right?

The picture and video evidence aren’t just something to look at, but they represent clear evidence that the rover’s imaging and communication systems are in good shape, and that it has successfully made it to Mars.

The ability to send the data that contains a photograph is step one of the Martian phase of this complex and fascinating mission.

So, it’s probably fitting that the first image we got from the surface of Mars is of the rover looking at its own shadow.

Essentially you could say we are there, on the surface of the next planet that might be conducive to a human settlement, staring at ourselves, admiring the achievement.

This is the moment Curiosity touched down, complete with the customary cheers of “Oh my gawd!”

Nasa has also setup a live Ustream page with tons of information about the mission. At approximately 09h50 South African time, they beamed back the first images of Curiosity checking out the sun, from Mars. Check out the stream below for more:

Live video from your Android device on Ustream

 [Source: Nasa]