The Mars Curiosity Rover will be landing on Mars on Sunday August 5th at 10:31 PDT.
The site for the landing will be inside of Gale crater. The black oval indicates the spot.
This was chosen because of the presence of minerals in layers on Mount Sharp (the mountain seen in the center of the crater) that formed in water which were spotted from orbit. This interests scientists as they feel this area may have been suitable for ancient microbial life to have formed.
From the JPL site:
You can watch the lead up to the landing, the landing itself, and more at NASA TV live starting at 8:30 PM PDT.
To catch the images from Curiosity as they arrive, the raw images will be found here: JPL Raw Images from Curiosity
I also discovered an interview with the lead engineer of the project, Adam Steltzner. You can hear the passion and the nerves as he speaks to the reporter. It is on the Huffington post and can be found here: Mars Rover Curiosity Mission: ‘A Personal Investment,’ Says NASA Engineer
I am almost as nervous as he is I think. I will be watching with excitement and anticipation tomorrow night for sure. Anyone else?