LOS ANGELES (MCT) — NASA’s Curiosity robot not only survived its elaborate landing on Mars, but also wound up in the most scientifically exciting pocket of its 48-square-mile target area on the floor of an ancient crater, space scientists said Monday.

Engineers pored over data to figure out precisely where the spacecraft landed Sunday — and determined that Curiosity’s mission, which has the potential to transform deep-space exploration, won’t start at the base of a mountain four miles away, but right under its nose.