AlHijjah 7, 1432, Nov 3, 2011, SPA -- NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, a $2.5 billion rover designed to assess that planet's suitability for life, arrived at its Florida launch pad on Thursday in preparation for a planned Nov. 25 liftoff, the U.S. space agency said, according to Reuters. The spacecraft, which is about the size of a small car, was scheduled to be hoisted by crane to the top an unmanned Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, NASA spokeswoman Lisa Malone said. Powered by heat from the decay of radioactive plutonium, the rover is expected to spend one Martian year -- 687 Earth days -- exploring a massive crater that has a 3-mile-high (5 km) mountain rising from its floor. That is about twice the height of the rock layers exposed in the Grand Canyon. Scientists do not know how the mountain formed, but it may be the eroded remnant of sediment that once completely filled the crater. With its 10 science instruments, including two tools that can chemically analyze pulverized rock, the rover named Curiosity is designed to determine if the landing site, known as Gale Crater, has or ever had the organics necessary for life. Curiosity will join the smaller rover Opportunity, which has been exploring another region of Mars since 2004, and several orbiters, including Europe's Mars Express. But scientists are concerned that the United States is not following through with funding for follow-on missions. -- SPA
