( CNN ) -- Early data shows the Mars rover Curiosity landed with amazing accuracy this week , coming down about 1.5 miles from its target after a 350-million-mile journey , NASA scientists said Friday , perhaps giving planners more confidence about landing spacecraft in tight spaces in the future . The $ 2.6 billion rover is on a two-year mission to determine whether Mars ever had an environment capable of supporting life . It landed Monday and will spend the next four days installing operational software that will give it full movement and analytic capabilities , scientists said at a news conference at NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena , California . Curiosity missed its target entry point into Mars ' atmosphere by about only one mile , and most everything in its complicated descent and landing operations -- a spectacle popularly known as the `` seven minutes of terror '' -- happened on time , including the deployment of the largest-ever supersonic parachute and the heat shield separation . `` From all the data we 've received so far , we flew this right down the middle , and it 's incredible to work on a plan for ( years ) and then have things happen ... according to plan , '' said Steve Sell , who was involved in the powered descent phase . `` It was an impressive ride , '' said NASA 's Allen Chen , the operations lead for descent and landing . Tail winds might account for some of the off-target distance , NASA 's Gavin Mendeck said , but the actual landing spot was well within the expected range of uncertainty , or the area where the rover could well have ended up . `` With what we learn over the next few months , we 'll see if we can chop ( the area of uncertainty ) back a bit '' for future missions , Chen said . Chen said the early information about the landing is based on only 1 megabyte of data received on the day of the landing ; much more information will be received in the coming weeks . Precision in landing was important because NASA chose a relatively tight area for Curiosity 's arrival : The Gale Crater , which contains an 18,000-foot high mountain about 7.5 miles south of the landing site . The rover 's prime target is Mount Sharp , the mountain in the crater . Scientists hope the layers of rock that form the mountain will give them a timeline of the history of Mars . Though Curiosity 's primary science mission has yet to begin , the rover , along with probes in orbit , already have transmitted images . On Thursday , NASA released a sweeping color panorama of the planet 's surface , showing the rocky , reddish desert surrounding it and the mountain it will explore in the coming months . The 360-degree view captures the landscape of Gale Crater . NASA has said photographs like the ones beamed back by the rover , as well as others taken by the probes in orbit , will be used to map a path to the mountain 's base . The rover is built to run for two years , but a previous rover , Opportunity , has been working on Mars since 2004 , well beyond the three months NASA planned . Opportunity 's sister rover , Spirit , ran from 2004 to 2010 . The rover is installing its full surface operations software after the landing because its computers did n't have room for it during flight . The new software essentially replaces the flight operations programs , which Curiosity now does n't need , NASA said . Complete coverage of Mars . CNN 's Elizabeth Landau contributed to this report .
NASA analyzing early entry , landing data to help with future missions . Curiosity landed very near target site , important for relatively tight space . ` ` It was an impressive ride , '' said NASA 's Allen Chen . Title: Why do we have a " right of first refusal " on the internet?