UPDATE: The Curiosity rover successfully landed on the Martian surface at 1102 hours IST (0532 hours GMT). You can view the first images of the planetary surface from the probe's cameras here. An alternate source for NASA's live video feed is available here.
 

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is about to land on the surface of Mars today. Launched on 26th November 2011, this robotic mission will attempt to land a rover named Curiosity on the Martian surface to study the climate, geology, and habitability in general to aid future manned missions to the planned. The rover is scheduled to land at 1101 am IST, if all goes well. The car-sized, 900 kg Curiosity will traverse up to 20 km from its landing point  to collect rock samples over a course of 687 Earth days (the expected life of its nuclear power source), which is equal to one Martian year. The biggest achievement of this mission is that it is the largest unmanned science laboratory to have landed on an alien planet, that too with increased precision inside a 20 km landing circle. We have live coverage of the event for you to enjoy:

TAGS: Science, Robots, Transportation, Jayesh