NASA launched a Rover to explore the Red Planet (Mars)

NASA launched Rover, nicknamed Curiosity to explore the planet Mars. The rover was launched from Florida on an Atlas 5 rocket. The Rover will take eight and a half months to reach the Red Planet (Mars). The cost of the NASA space mission is 2.5 billion US dollars. The Rover will then scour Martian soils and rocks for any signs that could have supported microbial life on the planet. The Atlas flight lasted almost three-quarters of an hour.  The rover is also known as the Mars Science laboratory (MSL). It is due to arrive at the Red Planet on 6 August 2012. The Rover will land at a deep equatorial depression called Gale Crater, which contains a central mountain that rises some 5kilometre above the plain below. MSL is equipped with 10 sophisticated instruments to study the rocks, soils and atmosphere in Gale Crater.