The robot takes off for Mars Curiosity

SCIENCE - The United States launched Saturday to the Red Planet's most sophisticated robot ...
Sent into space by NASA on Saturday, the robot Curiosity's mission to explore Mars and whether life could exist there.
The Atlas V rocket was torn from its launch pad at 3:02 p.m. as planned GMT (10:02 local). Separation from the second stage of the launcher is 40 minutes Inter after launch.
Curiosity, weighing 900 kg, is by far the heaviest and largest of the robots made so far to explore Mars and the most sophisticated with ten scientific instruments. Has six wheels, it also has a mast with high-definition cameras and a laser to study the targets at a distance of seven meters.
Other instruments to look around and especially to detect molecules of methane, a gas often associated with the presence of life on Earth already detected on Mars in some seasons by an American orbiter Mars.
Curiosity should land on the Martian soil in August 2012
After a journey of 570 million km, Curiosity, should land on the Martian soil in August 2012 at the foot of a mountain 5,000 meters high inside the crater Gale. Curiosity mission will cost $ 2.5 billion.
During his exploration mission scheduled to last two Earth years - one Martian year - the robot, powered by a nuclear generator, will attempt to discover whether the Martian environment could be conducive to the development in the past life microbial.
Getting into orbit or into the atmosphere of Mars is difficult. Of the 43 missions to date, nearly 70% have failed, the Americans have had great success with their previous six successful flights. They are the only ones to date have explored the surface of Mars.