NASA rover on its way to Mars

An Atlas 5 rocket lifts off from the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida November 26, 2011 .

NASA successfully propelled a $2.5-billion probe carrying a minivan-sized rover into space on Saturday, the first leg of an eight-month journey to Mars.

The probe, dubbed “Curiosity,” which will use a Canadian-made sensor to search for signs of life on the red planet, launched at precisely 10:02 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida, where weather conditions were favourable, the U.S. space agency said.

As the rocket blasted into the Florida skies, a booming sound echoed through the air followed by a bright flash of light.

“Everything is looking good,” said flight co-ordinator Rob Gagnon on more than one occasion as the probe left Earth’s orbit. “Engine continues to operate smoothly.”

The rover is now on a lengthy journey — almost 570 million kilometres — before its scheduled landing on Mars on Aug. 6, 2012.

NASA’s newest mission is its most ambitious yet, and space enthusiasts around the world are on the edge of their seats to see if the trip will be successful.

“If you look at the history of missions to Mars, most have failed,” said Alain Berinstain, director of planetary exploration at the Canadian Space Agency, in a previous interview with Postmedia News. “We are pushing the limits of technology every time we fly to Mars.

The one-ton rover— the largest piece of equipment ever to land on Mars— will act as “the hands and feet and eyes and nose and ears of scientists here on earth,” Berinstain said.

The result of a collaboration between scientists from around the world, the Canadian Space Agency provided the Mars Science Laboratory Mission with a locally made geology instrument, called an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, allowing Curiosity to examine the chemical composition of rocks and soil on Mars.

Described as the size and shape of a Rubik’s cube, the sensor sits on the end of Curiosity’s two-metre robotic arm. The instrument can complete a rock or soil analysis in as little as 10 minutes, according to the Canadian Space Agency.

Upon landing, the “motorized field geologist and geochemist” will travel along the planet’s surface, taking soil samples and pictures in search of evidence that, at least at some point in Mars’ history, life could have existed, said Berinstain.

The source of any life on Mars, as on Earth, would be water, Berinstain said.

“We know that water exists on Mars because, during the Phoenix (rover) mission, we reached down and touched water ice,” he explained. “Everything we know about life says that we need liquid water, we need some minerals and we need some source of energy — like the sun — for life to exist.”

That’s where Curiosity’s geology sensor comes into play. It will measure the exact chemical composition of certain rocks and soil samples to “find out if that rock has been exposed to water in the past,” said Berinstain.

While the movement of the rover will be controlled from California, the geology instrument will be controlled from a lab in Guelph, Ont., the first time Canadian-made technology on Mars will be controlled from its home base, said Berinstain.

The mission will last one Martian year, said NASA, the equivalent of 687 Earth days.