A complicated landing Sunday night is just the beginning of the mission for NASA's latest Mars rover, called Curiosity. If the touchdown goes well, Curiosity will send back new images from the planet, and analyze the Martian soil for evidence that conditions there might once have supported life. There's a lot of Colorado participation in the project, from aerospace companies Ball and Lockheed Martin, and from the non-profit Southwest Research Institute in Boulder. Astrobiologist David Grinspoon with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science also worked on the mission. He talks with Colorado Public Radio's Mike Lamp.
Click here to see a NASA simulation of the landing sequence, what scientists are calling Curiosity's "seven minutes of terror." [Photo: NASA]