Curiosity will be NASA's last blockbuster Mars expedition for a while – marking a turning point in our relationship with the Red Planet.
Future historians of Mars might note 5 August 2012 as the moment when humanity's long relationship with the Red Planet entered a new era. If all goes well, that will be the date that the Mars Science Laboratory touches down, after an intricate descent which even NASA predicts will be "seven minutes of terror".
This huge rover, better known as Curiosity, is aimed at a 5-kilometre-high heap of sediment that should provide information about Mars's entire history - perhaps including traces of ancient or even current life.
So the stakes are high. But it's likely to be the last such flagship expedition we see for some time, as NASA's near-monopoly on Mars exploration gives way to a plethora of smaller, cheaper missions by other countries and, soon, private companies.
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