STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. Hundreds of people gathered in Times Square last night to watch NASA TV. The landing of the Mars rover Curiosity was being shown on the big screen - the same screen that displays the countdown on New Year's Eve. Accounts posted to Twitter say that when the rover landed the crowded cheered and chanted, Science, science, science. Where was Ryan Seacrest? Anyway, one person tweeted this is definitely the nerdiest gathering here of all time. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.