NASA's Mars rover survived the so-called seven minutes of terror -- the crucial moments as the craft attempted to descend on Mars -- and successfully landed on the Red Planet Sunday night.

The rover, known as the Curiosity, was lowered into a huge crater by cables in the last few seconds.

Doug McCuistion, head of NASA's Mars exploration program, called the project the "Super Bowl of planetary exploration." Before the landing he said, "We score and win or we don't score and we don't win." On Sunday night, NASA won.