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How To Watch JPL's Newest Rover Curiosity Land On Mars At 10:31 PM
Illustration courtesy of JPL-NASA
Today is the big day for NASA's newest Mars rover Curiosity. If all goes well, it's expected to touch down on the red planet tonight at 10:31 pm PDT.
If unlike Will Wheaton and Bill Prady, your invite to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada-Flintridge got lost in the mail, you're in luck. There won't be actual footage of the rover touching down at the stroke of 10:31 pm for anyone, however, there will be live feeds bringing you up-to-date information from the control room about whether the mission looks like a failure or a success.
If you're in Los Angeles and want to watch a stream of news about the landing live with a community of space geeks, you can head over to the Griffith Observatory, which will be open from 9 pm until midnight. Staffers will be on hand to answer your questions about Mars. (Get there before 10 pm, when the inbound gates will shut). If you're in New York, you can watch from Times Square and if you're somewhere else, NASA has a list of meet-ups for you.
Or you can watch a live stream of the news about the landing here:
Streaming live video by Ustream
There will be programming periodically until 8:30 pm, when coverage of the rover's descent and entry into Mars begins. If for some reason the embed isn't working here, head over to the USTREAM site itself or JPL's website.
Of course, we might not know how the landing went for Curiosity for up to 3 entire days, and even if we hear from the rover right away, it might not send back actual images from Mars' surface until tomorrow. Here's a video that explains what will happen if Curiosity lands safely and soundly:
Sponsored message
And here's a video of the terrifying 7 minutes before Curiosity touches down:
We wish the team at NASA luck, because we know landing on the surface of Mars is no easy feat.
Related:
Curious About Curiosity? Griffith Observatory Hosts Mars Rover Landing Events
'Curiosity' Jets Off to Rove the Red Planet in Search of Conditions for Life
10 Stunning Recent Pictures From Mars
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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