Don’t miss it! The Mars Science Laboratory, carrying the Curiosity Rover will be landing on the Planet Mars EARLY on Monday the 6th!  1:31 AM.

Watch it on NASA TV!

Mars Science Laboratory aerobraking in the Atmosphere of Mars.

Curiosity Rover being lowered to the surface of Mars on the “Sky Crane.” Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity Rover on Mars: Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“Curiosity’s main assignment is to investigate whether its study area ever has offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. To do that, it packs a science payload weighing 15 times as much as the science instruments on previous Mars rovers. The landing target, an area about 12 miles by 4 miles (20 kilometers by 7 kilometers), sits in a safely flat area between less-safe slopes of the rim of Gale Crater and the crater’s central peak, informally called Mount Sharp. The target was plotted to be within driving distance of layers on Mount Sharp, where minerals that formed in water have been seen from orbit.”~NASA