In the run-up to the historic touchdown of the Mars rover Curiosity, Jim Green, head of the planetary science division at NASA, called it the “most significant event in the history of planetary exploration.” NASA Mars Exploration Program Director Doug McCuistion said a successful landing “could arguably be the most important event … in the history of planetary exploration.”

It’s clear Curiosity has big shoes to fill over the next 23 months in its quest for evidence of microbial life on the Red Planet. But what does the landing’s success mean for the future of Mars exploration?