Mars approach nerve-wracking for NASA

"It's a little bit nerve-wracking," says Doug McCuistion, head honcho of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, of the Mars Recon Orbiter's approach to the red planet.

Two contingency manuevers were considered in the last day, but neither were needed. The spacecraft is on perfect course for orbital insertion later today, the mission control team says.

"I can't wait to hear all the wows coming from the science community," McCuistion says.

First things first: NASA's already reminding everyone that this is not easy and a large share of the spacecraft that try to drop into around Mars fail to do so.

"NASA has an average grade of C doing this," McCuiston is saying during the news conference going on at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory right now. "It's not a simple thing to do."