Space watchers get set for Mars landing

18 Jul 2012, 7:04 am   -   Source: AAP
A NASA robot named Curiosity is due to land on Mars after a journey that has taken almost a year. (AAP)

A NASA robot named Curiosity is due to land on Mars after a journey that has taken almost a year. (AAP)

A NASA robot named Curiosity is due to land on Mars after a journey that has taken almost a year.

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NASA and space enthusiasts across the world will soon be able to monitor the Mars landing of the most advanced robot ever to be sent to another world.

Named Curiosity, the robot - or rover - has been heading toward Mars for nearly eight months. The landing is scheduled for the first week of August.

"Is it crazy? Not so much," said Doug McCuistion, the director of the Mars Exploration Program. "Is it risky? Landing on Mars is always risky. Every landing is unique. Every landing is like a first."

At a news conference on Monday, NASA scientists said they were looking for evidence that life existed on Mars billions of years ago. This evidence could include indicators of water, sources of energy or sources of carbon - all of which are essential to sustain life.

Curiosity was launched into space in November last year from Cape Canaveral. It will land in Gale Crater, which NASA scientists think held water billions of years ago.

The precision of the landing is a significant improvement from previous Mars missions, said Pete Theisinger, a project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

Helped by better communications technology, scientists will be able to land Curiosity within a very small range, on top of the most valuable scientific resource in the crater.

In an effort to make the Curiosity landing an interactive and consumer-friendly experience, NASA established a partnership between its Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Microsoft to create a free video game on Xbox Live with Kinect that lets the player land Curiosity on Mars.

"We are bringing the challenge of landing Curiosity to every living room that would like to play in this game," Theisinger said.

An iPad app, as well as a mobile phone app that lets the player simulate being a Martian, are available, too.

Despite all the interactive features, NASA says the mission is more than fun and games. "This is the hardest mission ever attempted in the history of planetary robotic exploration," said Dwayne Brown, a NASA public affairs officer.

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