Mars Science Laboratory: Curiosity

Throughout history (I assume), Man, sat in the dark quiet of nature, next to a warm glow of a campfire made with his own bare hands. He looked up to the sky and dreamt of another world teeming with life different from his own, and asked the inevitable question, "Am I alone?", only to get the inevitable answer, "No." (Man, often forgetful, is a big proponent of the buddy system. Especially while camping.) But that one silly misunderstanding didn't stop Man from dreaming of what lies beyond.

Unfortunately, thanks the dumb geniuses who made space flight possible, the Moon was ruled out for the homeworld of the Mole People-- and then the innovative simpletons who gave us a giant space telescope, can now prove how boring everything is, without even going.

But we still have to go somewhere.

Mars is the 5th planet in our solar system if you start from Neptune (the scientifically preferred method); The second planet in order of most important; 4th in literacy; 1st the Sahara look-a-like contest; And Bronze in the steeplechase at the London Olympic games. So, it should be no surprise that humanity needs to go there.

And that's exactly what the aptly named Mars rover, Mars Science Laboratory: Curiosity will investigate, excavate, and although there is strong evidence to suggest that there are no signs of life on Mars, NASA still incorporated an 'interrogate' program, because they've seen every movie about Mars-- ever.)

And, not to be outdone by Hollywood, NASA made this very educational,  yet very dramatic summary of the mission.