Curiosity, NASA's latest Mars rover, successfully landed in Gale crater, earlier this week. The Mars rover already sent back a postcard perfect picture of Mt. Sharp (picture, left). Mt.Sharp rises 18,000 ft above Martian surface. A comparison provided (picture, right) shows Mt. Sharp would inspire if located on Earth as it towers higher than Mt. Rainier. The NASA team will learn to operate SUV-sized Mars rover for next 90 Martian days, according to WashPO story.
On August 5, 2012 at 10:31 PM PDT, the SUV-sized Mars RoverCuriosity AKA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) lands on Mars! A spectacular feat because of special maneuvers to land such a large object successfully on Mars. You may get play-by-play of planetary exploration "Super Bowl" below the fold. Please join Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait, Fraser Cain and Pamela Gay, along with special guests for commentary leading up to touchdown! MSL is within orbit of outer moon Deimos (14,500 miles) as of this post. Google+Hangout is below fold to access live coverage. Thanks goes to Universe Today for access! Wow!
