With regard to this particular mission, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is aiming to find out whether life forms can survive on Mars. The rocket bearing the 1-ton rover named Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on November 26, 2011. It will finally land on mars on August 6, 2012. The vehicle, loaded with the most-sophisticated instruments ever used has costed NASA $2.5 billion. The mission, if successful, will bring back loads of information and data on the possibility of life forms on Mars.
Animation of how Curiosity will land on Mars.
(Source: Youtube)
You can also watch live stream of the Curiosity landing on Mars on August 6, 2012 (BST: 11:30 hours) on the Ustream embedded below.