NASA's Curiosity rover has touched down on the surface of Mars

[End]

Coverage

NASA TV (NASA's official video channel) can be found here.

Here's a full list of places to watch.

http://spaceindustrynews.com/where-to-view-the-mars-curiosity-landing-online/420/?=curiositylanding

Not sure when to tune in? NASA's MSL page has a running countdown.

What is Curiosity?

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, that will attempt to land a Mars rover called Curiosity on the surface of Mars. Currently en route to the planet, it is scheduled to land in Gale Crater at about 05:31 UTC on August 6, 2012. Curiosity rover's objectives include determining Mars' habitability, studying its climate and geology, and collecting data for human missions.

Curiosity is about twice as long and five times as heavy as the Spirit and Opportunity Mars exploration rovers, and carries over ten times the mass of scientific instruments. It will attempt a more accurate landing than previous rovers, within a landing ellipse of 7 by 20 km (4.3 by 12 mi), in the Aeolis Palus region of Gale Crater. This location is near the mountain Aeolis Mons (e.g. "Mount Sharp"). It is designed to explore for at least 687 Earth days (1 Martian year) over a range of 5 by 20 km (3.1 by 12 mi).

The Mars Science Laboratory mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort for the robotic exploration of Mars, and the project is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of California Institute of Technology. When MSL launched, the program's director was Doug McCuistion of NASA's Planetary Science Division. The total cost of the MSL project is about US$2.5 billion.

Procedure

	Animation NASA Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity Rover) Mission Animation Next Mars Rover in Action-Animation [Detailed narrative] "Mars in a Minute" How Do You Get to Mars? How Do You Land on Mars? How Hard Is It to Land Curiosity on Mars? "Challenges of Getting to Mars" Challenges of Getting to Mars: Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror
(Click image to view at full-size)

io9's "Countdown to Curiosity"

io9 is running a really neat hub on their site. It can be found here.

• Everything you need to know to catch the Curiosity rover landing
• Meet Curiosity - NASA's Mars Science Laboratory
• Find out why NASA engineers call the upcoming Mars landing "Seven Minutes of Terror"
• Why the mysterious Gale Crater is an "ideal landing site" for the new Mars rover
• NASA will attempt to photograph the Curiosity landing. From an entirely different spacecraft.
• See the Mars rover Curiosity launch from Cape Canaveral

[Ad Bot]

[._maxwell23461_.]

Wasn't that thing launched in like, November?

[End]

Wasn't that thing launched in like, November?

It was launched on the 26th of November, 2011, from Cape Canaveral.

[BanishedLetters]

Oh yes, my Dad told me about this yesterday :o

[Xinakam]

Wasn't that thing launched in like, November?

It takes a while to get to Mars.

[carolcat]

they had a replica at the chicago museum of science and industry when my mom took me a little over a week ago. the guy who was assigned the the rover exhibit gave us a very interesting talk about it.

personally, i think it's really cool that it's nuclear powered.

[TeslaCoil]

I'm going to do the Kerbal version of the touchdown 

[Anti-Block]

what better place to dump nuclear waste than mars

[comr4de]

If they can make nuclear rovers it's a matter of time before we see Nuclear ships

[TeslaCoil]

If they can make nuclear rovers it's a matter of time before we see Nuclear ships

In your dreaaams

[Dusty12]

If they can make nuclear rovers it's a matter of time before we see Nuclear ships

SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO

[comr4de]

In your dreaaams

u

SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO

U

[TeslaCoil]

Where are my nuclear powered space toilets

[dkamm65]

Wasn't that thing launched in like, November?

Yes. Mars is really far away.

I, for one, will be watching intently.

[Anti-Block]

If they can make nuclear rovers it's a matter of time before we see Nuclear ships

what better place to dump nuclear waste than space