NASA rover Curiosity's Mars landing

Building on the successes of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, NASA is sending to Mars a new rover packed with an array of 10 instruments for examining rocks, soil, and the atmosphere, including a powerful laser that will vaporize rocks from a distance and an instrument that analyzes samples for organic compounds.

At 2.8 meters long, the nuclear-powered, Mini Cooper-sized rover called Curiosity is twice as long and four times as heavy as its Spirit and Opportunity predecessors, NASA says.

Photos courtesy NASA/JPL-CalTech