On August 6, 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover made history by successfully touching down on the Martian surface at 1:31 a.m. EDT (0531 GMT). The landing took place at Gale Crater and involved a revolutionary new technique called a "sky crane," which used rocket engines to hover above the ground and gently lower the rover with cables. This was a major departure from previous Mars landings, which relied on airbags or direct touchdowns. The entire descent, from atmospheric entry to landing, lasted just seven minutes and had to occur autonomously due to the communication delay between Earth and Mars.