The Mars rover Curiosity, also known as the Mars Science Laboratory, will launch in late 2011 and land on the Red Planet in August 2012. The spacecraft carrying the 1-ton Curiosity rover, which launched toward the Red Planet on Nov. 26, will perform a three-hour series of engine burns beginning at 6:00 p.m. EST (2300 GMT) Wednesday. The maneuver will redirect the rover more precisely toward its landing site at Mars' Gale Crater, researchers said.The correction is necessary because mission managers intentionally aimed the launch away from Mars. This was done to prevent the Atlas 5 rocket's upper stage — which was not cleaned as diligently as Curiosity — from hitting the Red Planet and possibly contaminating it with Earth microbes.
