I needn't retell the details of how the landing happened, because it was completely according to plan. I don't think a single thing happened that was unexpected.

The landing was successful, and in the end, after all that anticipation, it was over so fast. Trying to gather my thoughts, the one that dominates is "I really can't believe that worked." But it did. It actually did. Up there, on Mars, there's a new rover, bringing us back up to two. Nothing could replace Spirit, but Curiosity will carry her torch.

This is the dawn of a new era in the exploration of Mars. Just as every previous mission has, the data that Curiosity sends back will completely change our view of the planet.

I live-tweeted the whole thing. I could keep up with the narration through the entry phase, but once the parachute opened things happened very quickly. With every milestone successfully passed, you could hear the anticipation and excitement in Allan Chen's voice ticking up a notch. He was practically screaming the last milestones. We certainly were yelling in the press room. Once it was all over, and there was jubilation in the mission control area, I actually started hyperventilating. I would've passed out if I'd been standing up. (Fortunately, I have a very comfy chair.)

There's not a lot of information yet available on details of the landing -- accuracy, position, and whatnot -- but those details really don't seem all that important to me right now. It's the road ahead of us that's important. From what I can see in the images downlinked so far, that road will be a smooth one, at least at the start. The pebbles on the ground in front of us look pretty small. Of course it's important to remember that the wheel that we see in those images is twice the size of the wheels on Opportunity. All of those pebbles would look a lot bigger to our little friend down in Meridiani.

Before I go on about those images, I think we should all stop and spare a thought for the machinery that didn't land so softly. The cruise stage; the heat shield; the aeroshell and parachute; the descent stage. Thousands of people labored for years to design, build, program, and test those machines, and they are now wreckage scattered across Gale crater. Curiosity will almost certainly not visit any of them, but we'll get a very good look at them soon when Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter images the landing site, possibly in the next day or two. If the sharp-eyed HiRISE doesn't catch them in its skinny field of view, the Context Camera surely will.

So: What can we learn from the first photos? First of all, I should probably explain that these images were taken with fish-eye cameras on the belly of the rover whose purpose is to assess the terrain in the immediate vicinity of the rover's wheels. The horizon is warped due to the fish-eye view; it's actually quite flat.

Note the direction of the rover's shadow. The rover is near the equator, and it was midafternoon when it landed. Therefore, the rover is facing almost directly east.

Next, what an incredibly smooth surface! Look at all those little pebbles! Once they're ready to drive -- which I should remind everyone will not be for a few weeks, not more than baby steps anyway -- it should be pretty clear sailing.

Here's the only image released from the second Odyssey communications pass. It was a low-elevation pass, so not much data was transmitted. This one is from the rear hazcam and was taken after deploy of the lens covers. The rover is facing due east. In the hour-plus since landing, the Sun sank considerably to the west, and is now in the rear hazcam field of view. Its glare is washing out almost all of the detail.