Hunt For Martian Life Continues With 'Curiosity' Rover: Gamers Can Also Try Landing Vehicle

NASA's latest Mars rover and science laboratory named "Curiosity" is set to land on the red planet at 10:31 p.m., Sunday. Here in Laguna Niguel, you will be able to watch the landing on NASA TV beginning at 8:30 pm. 

This mission is by far the most ambitious robotic mission to Mars to date. With a science payload 10 times the size of payloads on previous landers, the capability to discover evidence of microbial life or any type of life is tremendous. The rover will have an onboard science laboratory that will analyze rocks, soil, radiation and other material and send the information via orbiting radio transmitters back to earth. This concept of on board processing started with the Viking Mars Lander in 1976.

The mission will last nearly a year with the rover being able to travel over more ground than any previous mission. The rover has 6-wheel drive and is powered by a radio isotope (nuclear) power source that will not only power the vehicle but will run the instruments and keep onboard systems operating at the proper temperature.

The landing sequence has already begun. The craft will make a series of maneuvers that will start to slow the vehicle down. Once it enters the Martian atmosphere, it will use a parachute and then retro rockets to bring it to a safe landing. Once safely on the ground, a crane like device will lower the vehicle to the planet's surface.

NASA is generating interest in the mission by the creation of a virtual game that will allow Xbox gamers using Kinect to follow the landing and the vehicle. There is also available from NASA a gaming software called Unity that will allow further interactions with the mission. 

The Curiosity spacecraft is built and managed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. It was launched in November from Cape Canaveral.