The Mars Science Lab successfully delivered the car-sized Curiosity rover to the surface of the red planet at 1:32 a.m. EDT. NASA's $2.5-billion mission involved the work of more than 5,000 people from 37 states. Curiosity is expected to revolutionize deep-space science, not only searching for indications that Mars is or was habitable, but paving the way for the next critical steps in exploration -- soil sample returns, sending astronauts to Mars, even perhaps, colonization.