>>> the folks at nasa are calling it the monster truck of mars. and tonight the world's biggest extraterrestrial explorer is on its way to the red planet . for nasa this new mission in search of life carries high hopes and high risks. nbc's tom costello has our report.
>> 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
>> reporter: with the saturn five liftoff at the kennedy space center , nasa has launched its most sophisticated and ambition mission to mars yet. just traveling the 154 million miles to the red planet will take more than eight months. then next august a high-risk landing as a supersonic parachute slows the science lab 's descent to mars, 60 feet above the planet a sky crane will gently lower the rover naped curiosity onto the martial surface, leaving the rover on its own to look for signs of life , past or present.
>> do we anticipate that we'll learn a whole lot about mars? absolutely. do we know what specifically that will be? no clue.
>> reporter: curiosity is a six-wheeled rover standing more than six feet tall, able to drive long distances under an martian sun, analyzing rock and soil samples and sending the results back to earth. nasa has carefully selected the landing zone on mars in the gael crater where a huge mountain rises right out of the crater floor. scientists believe they see layers of sedimentary deposit here that they hope will help them understand more about mars' history but alsoless wh what happened to the lakes and rivers.
>> reporter: the evidence this scientist says now seems clear that mars once had a very warm environment.
>> perhaps even today.
>> reporter: that possibility poses a big problem. nasa has gone to great lengths to ensure curiosity doesn't carry any earth germs that could contaminate life on mars . high resolution cameras have already detected what appear to be large ice sheets buried under the martian surface. curiosity's mission to determine whether life is or ever was buried there, too. tom costello, nbc news, washington.
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/45445869/
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