Will You Be Watching the Rover Mars Landing?

Space geek alert!

Fans of space travel and astronomy will get a treat on Sunday night, August 5, when the Mars rover is scheduled to land on the red planet. The rover "Curiosity" will be landing after traveling 8-1/2 months and 352 million miles.

Live viewing "parties" are being held in a few locations around the region, most notably on the Times Square Toshiba Vision Screen from 11:30 p.m. Sunday night through 4:00 a.m. Monday morning in Manhattan.

Union County residents can drive in or check train schedules for the Morris & Essex or Raritan Valley lines here.

You can also watch the "Curiosity" rover land at the ArtisticEfex Fine Art Photography Studio, 411 Rt 206 Suite 5 (Towne Centre Shopping Mall), in Hillsborough, NJ. Visitors can learn about NASA's latest mission to Mars, watch the live feeds from NASA/JPL Mission Control on HD wide screen TV, enjoy Multi-media presentations on Astronomy and Exploring Space, and listen to guest speaker Paul Cirillo of the NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador. There will also be live remote access telescope viewing — conditions permitting.

The Liberty Science Center in Jersey City will also be providing lectures and information during operating hours. The Center explains, "On August 6, 2012 EDT NASAs Mars Science Laboratory mission is preparing to set down a large, mobile laboratory, the rover Curiosity, using precision landing technology that makes many of Mars' most intriguing regions viable destinations for the first time."

For a map of all viewing locations in the U.S., visit here.