Washington DC – Today, Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Ralph Hall (R-TX) released the following statement after this morning’s successful landing of the Curiosity Mars Rover.  

“I congratulate the entire NASA team on the extraordinary landing of the Curiosity rover early this morning.  Today’s landing was one of NASA’s most complex and challenging feats, and the Curiosity rover is by far the largest, most sophisticated Mars mission of its kind.  The incredibly complex Mars Science Laboratory that rides aboard the rover now has the complicated task of examining the Martian surface for evidence of life.  Previous missions have provided strong evidence that the planet once harbored large bodies of water, and Curiosity will now look for organic molecules that could give us even more insight into the possibility of life on the Red Planet.”