[UPDATE (August 6, 05:33 UTC): TOUCHDOWN!! Welcome to Mars, Curiosity.] Hi everyone, and welcome to the live Google+ video Hangout for the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity landing! I'm with fellow astronomers and space folks Fraser Cain, Pamela Gay, Amy Shira Teitel, Ian O'Neill, and many others... and we have some special guests lined up too. You should see the video below with the live feed for the Hangout.

[embed width="610"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrJT1d1BKhw[/embed]

If you have questions, join us on Google+

or drop us a line on Twitter - use the hashtag #MarsHangout.

Starting at roughly 03:00 UTC (11:00 Eastern US time) [NOTE: I just updated the time; I originally thought we'd be on a bit earlier] I will be in a Google+ live video Hangout with Fraser Cain, Pamela Gay, Amy Shira Teitel, and many others, talking about the Mars Science Lab - aka Curiosity - as it makes its terrifying way to the Martian surface. We'll have live feeds, interviews, and lots of fun! I will embed the video right here when it's live, so keep this blog post up in your browser. When we go live I'll be tweeting it and putting it on G+ as well, so stay tuned, and watch this space!