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and August 21, the young crescent moon will return to this part of the sky, joining these planets and this star.
• Mars is nearly on the far side of the sun from Earth now, over 150 million miles away. That means it will take the signal from NASA's new Mars rover Curiosity 13.8 minutes to reach Earth.
• By the way, as you gaze at this trio of objects in the night sky, you might remember that Mars is closer than Saturn (83 light-minutes away) or Spica (260 light-years away.

• As you peer at Mars in the night sky, NASA's Curiosity rover - the centerpiece of the Mars Science Laboratory mission - will be attempting or about to attempt an unprecedented landing on Mars. This rover is larger than previous rovers. It is a 1-ton robot - about the mass of an SUV - and landing it on Mars without kicking up dust (which could harm its delicate instruments) was a serious engineering challenge. The excellent video below shows how the risky maneuver will keep rover team members in suspense for 7 fateful minutes. Don't miss this video!
• Bottom line: Find Mars in the night sky tonight - August 5, 2012 - as the NASA's new Mars Curiosity rover attempts to land on the Red Planet's surface. The planet makes a triangle with two other night sky objects. One is another planet, Saturn. The other is the star Spica. You'll find them all in the southwest to west after sunset.