Moment of truth for Mars rover Curiosity

Scientists hope to receive the signal confirming that the six-wheeled robot, Curiosity, is safely on the planet’s surface this morning.

Two thirds of Mars missions to date have failed, including Britain’s ill-fated Beagle 2 lander which was lost on Christmas Day 2003.

But none has been as complex and daring as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, which aims to deliver the largest rover to land on the Red Planet.

Curiosity, costing £1.59bn, is twice as long and five times as heavy as the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity which landed there in 2004.

Because of its size and weight, getting the vehicle on to the Martian surface presented a major challenge to scientists at the American space agency Nasa.

The dramatic solution involves dropping the robot on nylon tethers from a hovering “sky crane”.

John Bridges, from the University of Leicester, one of two British scientists leading teams on the mission, said: “I’m cautiously optimistic. Space exploration is not for the faint-hearted.

“The previous rover landing used inflatable bouncing bags. Curiosity’s just too heavy for that, so they developed the sky crane technique.”

Curiosity’s target is Gale Crater, near the Martian equator, where billions of years ago there may have been a large lake.

The rover is due to land close to a Mount Sharp, a 5.5 kilometre peak in the middle of the crater with clay deposits round its base.

Curiosity bristles with sophisticated instruments designed to discover if Gale Crater could ever have supported simple life.

For one Martian year, 98 Earth weeks, the rover will explore its surroundings using a robot arm to scoop up soil and drill into rock.