In this Aug. 5, 2012 photo provided by Daniel Scharf via the Rockford Register Star, senior engineer Dan Scharf, a senior engineer with NASA's Jet Propulson Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is seen in the EDL War Room at the JPL shortly after the Curiosity rover landed on Mars and the very first images returned from the rover. Scharf was in charge of the guidance, navigation and control for the backup landing system for the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft that carried the Curiosity rover to Mars. That backup system would have taken over steering for the spacecraft to hit its landing target, if there had been any problems with the primary landing system. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Daniel Scharf via the Rockford Register Star) MANDATORY CREDIT
