NASA rover to scout for habitable areas on Mars

A NUCLEAR-powered rover as big as a family car is set to begin a nine-month journey to Mars this weekend to learn if the planet is or ever was suitable for life.

The launch of NASA’s $2.5 billion (€1.87bn) Mars Science Laboratory aboard an unmanned United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket is set for a 3.02pm Irish time launch tomorrow from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, located just south of the Kennedy Space Centre.

The mission is the first since NASA’s 1970s-era Viking programme to directly tackle the age-old question of whether there is life in the universe beyond Earth.