Nasa nervously awaits risky $2.5bn Mars landing

Nasa said all was well ahead of its nail-biting mission to Mars, with its most advanced robotic rover poised to hunt for clues about past life and water on Earth’s nearest planetary neighbour.

The $2.5bn mission blasted off in November on a journey of 300 million miles. It is due to land the Curiosity rover at 6.31am Irish time on Monday morning.

The 1-ton Curiosity rover, the heart of Nasa’s Mars Science Laboratory mission, will try to determine if Earth’s neighbour is, or ever was, capable of supporting microbial life.