The excitement surely is building as our new Rover, Curiosity prepares for launch this November 25th 10:25 a.m. EST- and having had experience of watching the Rovers Spirit and Opportunity launch for Mars, June 10 and July 7, 2003 I saw Steve Squyres, Principal Investigator for the rovers Opportunity and Spirit, with a tear in his eye, wishing the rovers a safe mission, again we’ll observe engineers choking somewhat when they speak of Curiosity and surely on the day of the launch some will have a tear or two in their eyes.
Yes, to the engineers, the rover is like their baby being sent forth into the unknown and we parents know all about that lump in our throats when we send our kids off to college and experience that “empty nest syndrome” – smiles. The engineers who planned the Rovers and built them with no exception for Curiosity’s Peter Illsley, Rover’s engineer of Jet Propolsion Laboratory, who already feels the pang of letting his “baby” go on this incredible venture, including the principal investigator Kenneth Edgett of Malin Space Science Systems and all the engineers that worked on Curiosity, we know all too well what they will experience on November the 25th.
As well as the all Canadian engineers who planned and assembled various instruments for Curiosity but they are not alone 
when that day comes where we all wish Curiosity safe flight and safe landing on her new mission on Mars. So far away from home, never to return but remain in constant contact with earth and us where we get to learn more.
Curiosity has 10 science instruments altogether to search for evidence about whether Mars has had environments favorable for microbial life, including the chemical ingredients for life. Curiosity will use a laser to look inside rocks and release the gasses so that its spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth.
Just as we followed Opportunity and Spirit on their everyday adventure through the years where sometimes we encountered funny moments and at times heart stopping, nail biting ones as well as the sad day we said so long but not goodbye to our beloved Spirit, the problem child, we will follow Curiosity and her new adventures she will encounter. We wish her a safe journey.
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