However, for the car-sized Curiosity, the math showed that existing airbags wouldn't work. And even if they did, there wasn't a known material capable of handling the rover's 1-ton weight.
The images were captured by the Curiosityrover's telephoto-lens camera, called the Mast Camera (Mastcam). The images have been sped up by a factor of 10. The entire eclipse lasted roughly 35 ...