NASA is prepared to Launch the Mar’s rover, Curiosity aboard an Atlas V rocket at approximately 10:02am EST. SpaceFlight Now has been providing alot of great coverage of the launch including a Live Realtime Video feed. We will be sharing this feed this morning in our Chatroom for those that want to view it as well.
Update 11.26.2011 10:02am EST– Successful Launch and separation of the solid rocket booster for the Mar’s Rover. It is still attached to it’s Atlas main stage but a successful launch. Launch had no delays weather or technical related appears to be as flawless as one could ask for. The car sized rover appears to be on it’s way to Mars. We will continue to cover this over the next few weeks as this new science package makes it’s way to Mars to study our nearest neighboring planet.
Update 11.26.2011 10:40am EST – The Rover is now in the final burn phase of the Centaur rocket about 3 minutes from the separation from the Centaur stage. One thing I will say about the coverage of this launch is that the 3D modelling for this launch was well thought out and planned for the launch and viewers.
Update 11.26.2011 10:46am EST – Rover separation is successful from the Centaur stage. A round of applause was heard from the control room as the separation was complete and it is now on it’s way to Mar’s. Spacecraft separation was right on time.
The Curiosity Rover is expected to land on Mars at Gale Crater between August 6 and August 20, 2012. It will be the first craft to attempt a precision landing on the planet.
Update 11.27.2011 5:04pm CST – Engineers received from NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory that all system are operational and nearly 8 month journey to Mars is well underway. Automaton has a great article on How NASA’s Curiosity Rover Will land on Mars. 
Air&Space Smithsonian, calls the maneuver the SkyCrane. It will differ from the landing that the previous rovers (Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity) used, they used a bouncing ball type deployment. SkyCrane resembles and was inspired by the Sikorsky CH-54B helicopters and how it deploys it’s payloads. The press release from Aerojet covers alot of details on this landing as well. Stay tuned for the landing coming soon August 5, 2012.