Mars mission back on track

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), currently flying through space, has been corrected so it lands on the planet Mars in August.

It was launched in November on a rocket from America, but wasn't travelling in exactly the right direction.

In a three-hour process, it was put on course by firing up eight thrusters.

The total journey from Earth is a staggering 570-million kilometers. That's er... as far as...er.. here to Mars, obviously!

It will have to be corrected again before it can land, but scientists say this is normal for a space flight to Mars.

Eventually the MSL should touch down inside a 150km-wide crater - if that was on Earth it would take two hours just to travel across it.

The roving lab is aiming to land inside a 150km-wide bowl called Gale Crater.

It will use its complex equipment to work out if the planet has ever had conditions which can support life.

Pictures from European Space Agency