Next Stop, Mars!

In the most recent of space related news, NASA launched their largest rover to date, on Saturday. As the rest of the U.S. was catching up on sleep after Black Friday, an Atlas V rocket hurtled into space to release the extraterrestrial explorer, nicknamed Curiosity, and begin a 345 million mile journey to Mars. Once it arrives, it will be tasked with collecting data about the microbial makeup of the surface of the fourth rock from the sun. It will also measure weather while on Mars, and hopefully the combination of this data will allow scientists to draw more conclusions about the possibility of life on Mars.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/science/space/nasas-curiosity-rover-sets-off-for-mars-mission.html