Mars Rover Landing: NASA Rover Curiosity Nears Red Planet (Photos)

Stephen Colbert on Mars Rover Landing

Comedy Central

TV comedian Stephen Colbert discusses NASA's Mars rover Curiosity landing with astronaut John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science missions, in this still of a Comedy Central broadcast on Aug. 1, 2012.

Gale Crater, Landing Site of Curiosity Rover (Infographic)

Karl Tate, SPACE.com Contributor

The mountain-climbing rover heads for Mount Sharp, rising 3 miles (5 kilometers) above Gale Crater. See our full look at Curiosity's Gale Crater on Mars in this infographic.

Gale Crater: Target for Curiosity Mars Rover

DLR

Gale Crater: Target for Curiosity Mars rover.

Mars Rover Landing Video Game Screenshot #7

Microsoft/Smoking Gun Interactive

A screenshot from the new "Mars Rover Landing " game for Xbox Live simulates the landing of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission on Mars. The game allows players to use the Kinect motion sensor on the Xbox 360 console to land NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars.

Mars Rover Chief John Grotzinger

NASA/Carla Cioffi

Curiosity project scientist John Grotzinger, a geologist at Caltech in Pasadena, holds up a model of the rover at a press conference at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum on July 22, 2011 in Washington.

Rover to Land on Mars by Sky Crane (Infographic)

Karl Tate, SPACE.com Contributor

Curiosity, the latest wheeled vehicle to be sent to explore Mars, is the size of a small car and will use a unique method of landing on the Red Planet.

Huge Mars Robot Armed With Laser, Cameras, Curiosity (Infographic)

karl Tate, SPACE.com

The nuclear-powered mobile science laboratory Curiosity is roving across the surface of Mars for years, searching for the conditions that may have once made Mars an abode of life. See how NASA's Mars rover Curiosity works in this Space.com infographic.

Artist's Conception of Curiosity Mars Rover

NASA/JPL-Caltech

This artist concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life.

Curiosity Rover Lands

NASA

This illustration depicts the moment immediately after the Curiosity rover touches down on the Red Planet.

Curiosity in Cruise

NASA

This artist's impression shows the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft after its cruise stage has been jettisoned, roughly 10 minutes before it enters the atmosphere of Mars.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Space.com Staff
News and editorial team

Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.