[UPDATE: SUCCESS! The launch was just about perfect, and Curiosity is now on its way to Mars, scheduled to land in August 2012. Congrats to everyone on the mission!]
Tomorrow, Saturday, November 26 at 10:02 Eastern (US) time (15:02 UTC), an Atlas V rocket carrying the Curiosity Mars rover will blast off from Florida, sending the sophisticated rolling lab to the Red Planet. You can watch the launch live at NASA TV, or I recommend on the NASA/JPL UStream channel. I imagine I'll be up and tweeting about it, as will my pal Emily Lakdawalla. It is no exaggeration to say that Curiosity is a huge leap forward for Mars exploration. Designed to last for nearly two years, it's 3 meters long -- the size of a hefty golf cart -- and its scientific payload is ten times more massive than its predecessors. It has instruments (PDF) that can sample ...
