NASA to Hold Dec. 8 Media Teleconference on Mars Rover Curiosity Observations

NASA will host a media teleconference at 9 a.m. PST (noon EST) Monday, Dec. 8, to discuss geological observations made by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.

Teleconference participants will be:

-- Michael Meyer, Mars Exploration Program lead scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington

-- Sanjeev Gupta, Curiosity science team member at Imperial College in London

-- John Grotzinger, Curiosity project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California

-- Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity deputy project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena

Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012 in a crater 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter, dubbed Gale Crater. Researchers have since been using the rover to investigate the Red Planet to determine current environmental conditions and hunt for clues about the environments of ancient Mars. The rover currently is examining geological layers at the base of a layered mountain in the middle of the crater.

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

Visuals for the teleconference will be posted at the start of the event at:

http://go.nasa.gov/curiositytelecon

The teleconference and visuals will be streamed together at:

http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl

For information about NASA's Curiosity rover mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/msl