[RunItUpTheGut]

"Curiosity" has been bound for Mars since it hitched a ride aboard the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket last November from Cape Canaveral.

After 352 million miles and $2.5 billion dollars, NASA's rover will finally land on the surface of the Red Planet. Or at least, NASA hopes it will land--with is payload of fancy gadgets for studying Mars once it arrives, a lot is riding on the success of a tricky maneuver.

Over a period of about seven minutes, the spacecraft containing Curiosity--actually a car-sized rover contained inside a larger craft--will decelerate from 13,200 miles per hour to zero in the space of 390 miles.

Assuming everything goes as planed, Curiosity will spend two years exploring Mars looking for signs that our nearest planetary neighbor has or ever had the ability to support and sustain life.

NASA TV will stream the landing between 11:30pm and 2:00 a.m. Eastern Sunday night to Monday morning. The actual landing is due to take place at 1:31 a.m.


Read more: http://www.upi.com/blog/2012/08/05/Watch...z22k2gqhEN