Editing Mars Science Laboratory (section)

=== Cost overruns, delays, and launch ===
By November 2008 most hardware and software development was complete, and testing continued.<ref name="usra"/> At this point, cost overruns were approximately $400 million. In the attempts to meet the launch date, several instruments and a cache for samples were removed and other instruments and cameras were simplified to simplify testing and integration of the rover.<ref name=Air&Space/><ref name="universetoday"/> The next month, NASA delayed the launch to late 2011 because of inadequate testing time.<ref name="Next NASA Mars Mission Rescheduled For 2011"/><ref name="Mars Science Laboratory: the budgetary reasons behind its delay"/><ref name="thespacereview"/> Eventually the costs for developing the rover reached $2.47 billion, that for a rover that initially had been classified as a medium-cost mission with a maximum budget of $650 million, yet NASA still had to ask for an additional $82 million to meet the planned November launch. As of 2012, the project suffered an 84 percent overrun.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/gao-slams-jwst-msl-cost-overruns/|title=GAO Slams JWST, MSL Cost Overruns|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-30}}</ref>

MSL launched on an [[Atlas V]] rocket from [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station|Cape Canaveral]] on November 26, 2011.<ref name="nasa3"/> On January 11, 2012, the spacecraft successfully refined its trajectory with a three-hour series of thruster-engine firings, advancing the rover's landing time by about 14 hours. When MSL was launched, the program's director was [[Doug McCuistion]] of NASA's [[Planetary Science Division]].<ref name="Doug McCuistion"/>

''Curiosity'' successfully landed in the [[Gale (crater)|Gale Crater]] at 05:17:57.3 UTC on August 6, 2012,<ref name="NASA-1"/><ref name="Space-20120806" /><ref name=Sol3/><ref name="SF1012012-07-06"/> and transmitted [[Hazcam]] images confirming orientation.<ref name="SF1012012-07-06"/> Due to the Mars-Earth distance at the time of landing and the [[speed of light|limited speed]] of radio signals, the landing was not registered on Earth for another 14 minutes.<ref name="SF1012012-07-06" /> The ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' sent a photograph of ''Curiosity'' descending under its parachute, taken by its [[HiRISE]] camera, during the landing procedure.

Six senior members of the ''Curiosity'' team presented a news conference a few hours after landing, they were: [[John M. Grunsfeld|John Grunsfeld]], NASA associate administrator; [[Charles Elachi]], director, JPL; [[Peter Theisinger]], MSL project manager; Richard Cook, MSL deputy project manager; [[Adam Steltzner]], MSL entry, descent and landing (EDL) lead; and [[John P. Grotzinger|John Grotzinger]], MSL project scientist.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVzfDZlEwaU  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/FVzfDZlEwaU| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Curiosity Rover Begins Mars Mission |author=NASA Television |publisher=YouTube |date=August 6, 2012 |access-date=August 14, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref>