NASA launches second Mars probe tonight
Kennedy Space Center -- For the second time this month, NASA is aiming a rocket at the red planet. The Mars "Opportunity" rover is set to blast off at 11:56 p-m, Eastern Time tonight, with a 60 percent chance of good weather.
The "Opportunity" is nearly identical to the "Spirit" rover that left earlier this month, and both probes will try to learn just how much water used to be on Mars, and whether the planet had enough to support life in the past.
But Mars has been tough on scientists in the past. Six out of the world's last nine Mars landers have failed. That's one reason NASA is sending two spacecraft.
In addition, Europe and Japan are sending probes to Mars as well -- something researchers say is an unprecedented world effort to learn more about the Red Planet.
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