Obviously the presence of giant robots who turn into jets hasn’t put us off going back to the red planet…

As we reported NASA have successfully landed their rover Curiosity on the surface of Mars with one of the first photos being of the craft’s shadow being cast over the Martian surface (above). And it landed exactly in the spot chosen by the scientists which involved a skycrane and supersonic parachute.

Curiosity is literally a lab on wheels and is designed to determine if Mars ever had an environment that could sustain smaller life forms. Gale Crater is its first stop which they believe may have or currently does contain water. It will examine the layers of sediment.

And this for us at the Nerd is exciting stuff. All we need now is big Martian monster to pop out of the lake and make us all very happy. Rock on rover!