Rover To Land On Mars Sunday

The next Mars rover is scheduled to land on the red planet this Sunday, August 5th. Scientists are hoping to find out if there is life there now, or ever was.

At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory mission specialists have been working on the Curiosity rover for more than a decade and are eager to see the results of so much hard work.

“Curiosity is on a trajectory in the solar system where it actually is moving a little bit ahead of Mars, and Mars is slowly catching up from behind it,” Control Systems Manager Steven Lee explained, “On Sunday Mars’ gravity will take over and basically catch up and suck in Curiosity from behind.”

The $2.5 billion rover was launched back on November 26, 2011 from the Kennedy Space Center. After landing, it will spend two years gathering information about the mysterious red planet – where water was found in a landmark discovery in 2003.

High-tech cameras and equipment on Curiosity will offer new insights for researchers, including a laser that can blast through the outer layer of rock.

Click the video above to watch Michelle Stark’s full report.