PASADENA, Jan 4: The US spacecraft carrying a robotic explorer designed to search for signs of life on Mars arrived safely on Saturday. A lander carrying the Spirit rover made what NASA officials called a textbook touch-down in a huge impact crater , bouncing and rolling across the bleak landscape while cushioned by giant airbags.

Project scientists at the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, broke into wild cheers when the lander sent a signal back to Earth telling them it had survived a final six-minute plummet to the surface.

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe declared: "This is a big night for NASA - We're back."

"I'm very, very proud of this team and we're on Mars. This is an absolutely incredible accomplishment."-Reuters