Chemistry On Mars: The Curiosity Rover's Mission

After an epic 354-million-mile trek through space, the Mars Curiosity Rover is zooming along at 13,000 miles per hour toward a scheduled Aug. 6 landing on the Red Planet to search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. We took a visit to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to talk to the Mars Science Laboratory Deputy Scientist, Ashwin Vasavada, who gave us a look 'under the hood' of the rover, explaining the role of the analytical chemistry instruments found onboard Curiosity. Curiosity&'s primary mission goal is to determine the habitability of the Gale Crater.