is zero room for error. about 17 minutes from now, if all goes as planned, the rover will touchdown on the martian surface. but it takes 14 minutes for a signal to travel from mars to earth, so best case scenario, confirmation will come in about 31 minutes. we expect pictures around 2 a.m. eastern. now, joining us from the laboratory in california. in moscow r where russian space officials are closely following the development and science correspondent david brodie joins us from edge water, new jersey. but first we will go to john zarrella there live in pasadena. john, we are about to enter the period that officials are calling seven minutes of terror, where they will not know if curiosity is alive or dead. >> that's exactly right, john. this is it. they've all been using the olympic term that they have to stick this landing. as you pointed out, that this maneuver to entering the atmosphere of mars, traveling at 13,200 miles an hour, in less than ten minutes from now, they'll be hitting curiosity will be hitting the upper part of the atmosphere, traveling that speed, from that point on, it'll maneuver its way down through the atmosphere. then a parachute will deploy and following the parachute deployment, it'll be slow to even further and then another series of events has to unfold where rockets have to fire. and the heat shield comes off. and the back shell comes off. and ultimately, curiosity will be tethered down. literally a sky crane down to the surface of the red planet. and then, that next phase of the operation is to jet san that part of the spacecraft that lowered curiosity down. and then, and only then, will it be safely on the ground bp but if any one of those things goes wrong, the mission is lost. but if curiosity gets down safely, it will be a two-year adventure to look for the building blocks of life. the grand canyon, each layer of rock represents a period of history. it is a perfect place to see how earth evolved over millions of years. on mars, if you are looking for evidence of life, you go to a very similar place called the gail crater. here, the layered rock provides a history of mars back to its first billion years. >> that period of mars history is a mystery to us. but also the most exciting history for us because that's when it was most earth like. >> and that's when life is most likely to have developed. so gail is where nasa's curiosity rover is going, between a mountain and the crater wall. >> and we're landing right between those two and kind of the only patch of flat ground. >> can you call curiosity, the sherlock holmes of rovers, with capability to do science that's more than just elementary. >> this mission asked one of the most fundamental questions can you ask, is there life on any other planet besides earth. >> curiosity does not have the ability to detect life itself, unless life stands up and waves at curiosity's camera. but it did k detect what none of its predecessors can. the onboard lab can sniff out organic materials, like carbon, abuilding block of life. >> one of the key goals is to look for key ingredient that life requires. water is one of the most -- one of the things we always look for on mars. >> scientists believe if water ever flowed on mars, it might have been inside gail crater. vast majority of tasks will be orchestrated by scientists on earth. but when you are 150 million miles away, there are some things curiosity might have to do on its own. >> the rover will be able to make decisions whether it can drive over an obstacle or if it needs to drive around an obstacle. >> the rover's mission is expected to last about two years. at the end of it, scientists hope to finally understand whether mars could ever have sustained life or maybe even still does. >> now, just a few minutes ago, mission control here at jet propulsion laboratory, the team handed out peanuts, which is an old tradition dating back to 1960s. missions that failed and there are many attempts before they actually passed out peanuts and on the mission they passed out peanuts. they add successful mission. so now ever since they have been handing out peanuts on these attempts. and they've been doing quite well, john. hopefully it'll be good luck for them again. i can tell you, this place is quiet now. everybody's in auditoriums watching. the science team is all gathered. mission control team. but there are 400 credentialed media here. there are hundreds of dignitaries that are here. all kinds of folks have come here for tonight's event. i've been at several other mars landings over the years and this is by far the most excited i have seen this place in many, many, many years. john? >> i can imagine you could cut the tension there with a meat axe right now. john, we've been working on this timetable, 17 minutes from now. we expect to touchdown. 31 minutes from now, at the earliest, we are expecting some kind of confirmation. but the time scale here is much broader than that. we are talking maybe two hours, maybe eight hours. before we hear anything from curiosity. >> well we will bring in joy, the deputy and the question was, it may be a while, even after it gets on the ground, or will it? before we will hear from them. is it going to come quickly or could this drag out? >> it could drag out, unfortunately. if everything goes as expected, we will hear right way. diabout 10:31 pacific time, we should here. >> one of the reasons why, is earth is setting. yes. >> you can't hear directly from curiosity, correct? so you are going to be signals are going to be relayed back through other orbiters. >> through odyssey, yes. >> that's other orbiting spacecraft, through odyssey. >> that's correct. >> if they don't hear from it on that pass then you got to wait until odyssey comes back around. >> correct. >> how long will that be? an hour and half, two hours? >> probably a couple hours. >> so we might have to -- >> might have to wait. i hope not. >> i assume everybody hopes that you hear right away. >> right. >> then, all of the anxiety is over. >> that's true. >> what about you? >> six years. so real emotional today and working hard to get everything ready, even things at home, like filling up car with gas and going to get your groceries and everything is set. now just three or four minutes before it reaches the top of the alt moss fear. >> and then -- >> then we have the seven minutes. >> of terror. >> and it all begins. >> yeah. >> john? >> we are keeping a very close eye on the clock becauset is 17 minutes past the hour when we hope we get some kind of information that curiosity has actually successfully landed on the surface of mars. let's talk more about this actual mission for curiosity once it does touchdown. assuming it goes according to plan. dave brodie is a science correspondent for space.com. he joins me now, from edge water in new jersey. dave, it is good for you to be with us. we appreciate it very much. in very broad terms, what is the mission for curiosity? >> well, we're attempting to tell more of this water story on mars. mars looks like a place where a lot of water flowed for a very long time along time ago. and we want it know why it isn't there any more and if it was there long enough, did life form on mars? curiosity is not specifically going to be able to tell you whether or not life formed, but it'll look for the tell-tale signs of former life in the form of organic compounds. complex organic compounds. something as organic, if it contains carbon and burns. that doesn't mean life. but as you get more and more complex organic molecules, well, that is a pretty good indicator of life. so curiosity will be looking for that. why do we want to know if there is life on mars? first of all, it is just a burning question. but more importantly, we would like to know why it is that the two planets around us, venus on one side and mars on the other, don't seem to be doing as well as earth does yet all three are in what's called a habitable zone. not too hot, not too cold, for water to flow an watter cycle. and perhaps, life to form. other thing we need to know about, life, if it is some day discovered on mars, is, does it have the same dna that earthly life does? if it does, that's profound, because that means that it could be the life rose on mars perhaps and came to earth or rose on earth and came to mars. because of the dynamics of early solar system, it is easy to believe it started there and came here, rather than the other way around. or did life come and see both planets. that's if it had the same dn that we do. if it doesn't have the same dn a or is life or was life living now on mars, that's even more profound. that means that two little planets, right next to each other, independently formed life. and if that's true, then life by logical extension is probably ubiquitous throughout the universe. lots and lots of life everywhere. so big questions, some of which we may get the beginnings of the answers to from curiosity and from its precursor missions. the mars exploration rovers. spirit and opportunity. opportunity is still functioning onmars. those guys told us an awful lot about this water story. so the water story continues. >> okay. >> dave, we got a big night ahead of us. we o would like you to hang about us for the rest of the hour, maybe longer, as we keep a close eye on this mission to mars. please stand by. we will get more information about curiosity and how it is following in the foot steps of other s successful missions to mars. some include those in the 1960s. fly-by missions to snap scores of missions by the planet. one was in 1975, viking 1, dave mentioned that. viking 2 sent back 16,000 images, as well as data. as technology improved, nasa sent spacecraft to orbit mars for longer studies. like the mars global surveyor in 1996 and mars reconnaissance orbiter in 2005 which transmitted back to earth more than 2,000terra bits of data. more than the other mars missioned combined. a new generation rover, spirit and opportunity, landed in 2004. and they have taken plor than a hundred thousand images, countless details about the minerals on mars and opportunity is still roving the martian surface today. new, we will take a short break here on world report. again, we are continuing to keep a close eye on the situation of the jpl in pasadena. but, we will also have a story on the future of recycling in china and why it cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. i love to eat. i love hanging out with my friends. i have a great fit with my dentures. i love kiwis. i've always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. super poligrip free -- it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. super poligrip free made the kiwi an enjoyable experience. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. wisconsin, friends and family came together in a park for t.o. remember the victims mafs shooting at a sikh temple. the attack happened at oak creek just outside milwaukee. ted rollins reports, authorities are treating the incident as domestic terror. >> reporter: investigators will spend the night combing not only the scene at the temple but also the suspect's home where they served a search warrant earlier this evening. they say they are looking for any information about this man they describe as being in his 40s. they have not been able to connect the suspect to the temple at all. none of the witnesses recognized him by sight or according to witnesses, by name. what we do know is that he walked into this temple about 10:30 in the morning and started firing. apparently saying nothing to his victims before opening fire with a 9 millimeter semiautomatic handgun. investigators say that's about all they know so far about the suspect. >> white male, approximately 40 years of age. and that's all we have as far as his motive and we are long away from that right now. and as i said, this is still very fluid with this -- with the warrants being served right now at his residence and scene still being processed. there's a lot of interviews that need it take place with witnesses from inside the temple and so forth. and it is just a reconstruct the crime scene and in the time line of this is still aways off. >> seven people have been confirmed dead. one of the injuries was the first police officer on scene, who according to investigators, was ambushed by the shooter. shot multiple times. that officer has been in and out of surgery here in the milwaukee area, throughout the evening. he is expected to survive. another officer with him at the time is the one that shot and killed the suspect in the parking lot of the temple. again, no link has been connected between the suspect and this temple. and investigators say it is going to be a long night here, both at the suspect's home and at the temple processing the two crime scenes. i'm ted rowlands, reporting from oak creek, wisconsin. >> and 17 minutes past the hour. let's go back to jpl just outside pasadena, california. john zarrella is there to find out if everything is going according to plan. curiosity should be touching down on the surface of mars. one person described this as the super bowl, on the one yard line with one play left. how is it looking? >> reporter: that's exactly right. the reset for the viewers, this is the most complicated landing attempt ever by nasa with a spacecraft o on mars. they today do it because curiosity is so big. you can see behind me, about the size after small car, about 2,000 pounds. before they encased rovers on air bags. bounce on the surface, then come to the stand still, the air bags would deflate and you could wo have these great little rover tlaes could come right off the landers and take off. this thing is way too big for that. they today come up with this incredible set of maneuvers and pyrotechnics to get curiosity on the ground. and joy crisp is with me, deputy project scientist. and joy, good news, they were getting what they call heart beats. what does that tell us? >> we are getting tones from the spacecraft as it is coming down. not super complicated data but just signals, letting the team now how it doing as it ge goes through the steps of edl, entry, decent and landing. >> so it is doing well on its decent to the surface. >> that's right. it is heading through the atmosphere of mars. >> because of that time delay, would it be on the ground by now and we just don't flow it? >> yes, it would. >> it would? >> it is kind of amazing. >> is. so right now, as far as you are concerned, this is a hurry up and wait. >> right. it happened but it hasn't happened in our minds yet. we have to wait and see how it procee proceeds. >> we have animation that nasa team put together yesterday that shows how the communications are going to be taking place because you have actually two orbiting satellites up there. >> right. >> you've got the odyssey, right? and then the recon since orbiter. >> then those two are how you're -- will be communicating back to earth. >> that's correct. and the entry of edl, is kau coming through odyssey. what we call the bent pike, is coming straight toward us, rather than orbited, recorded and sent down later. >> this is as realtime data as you can get. >> yes. this is what we were hoping for is that odyssey would rotate and be able to do this bend pipe for us and let us know right now, and let us know what was happening. >> so just a few more minutes to wait. probably ten or 11 more minutes. hopefully we will know definitively, if curiosity is on the ground, on mars. 150 plus million miles away. >> and john, once it's there, it will start getting to work pretty much straight away, collecting samples, yes? >> no, no, no. it will not. what they will do -- we will get images pretty quickly. we will get thumbnail images, they call them. the first one will be an image of one of the wheels. >> one caveat. >> one caveat? >> it depends on when -- when exactly we land. because we don't know the characteristics of the atmosphere. we don't know when exactly oddly will be communicating. so we may or may not get those initial images. so we might get a few thumb nails but we're not sure. >> we're not sure. >> they might not even get the pictures. but to answer your questions, it'll take about three weeks of check-out of the vehicle, before they actually get down to the science. but once they do, it is a two-year mission. so a lot of time to find all those signatures, hopefully of life that once existed or perhaps still does. on mars. >> okay. >> and again, john and joy, we appreciate you both being with us. and please stay with us a little longer. watch world report. we are keeping a close eye on curiosity, which should now be on the surface of mars. we are awaiting confirmation in a moment. but more, after a short break. just outside los angeles in california, as the curiosity rover is now, we believe, on the surface of mars, still waiting for confirmation of that. we are watching and waiting here at cnn. we have john zarrella at jpl there is pasadena. we also have phil black who is in moscow because the russians are playing a significant role in this mission. and they have a lot of experience at sending probes to mars. a lot of it successful. but let's go back to john at jpl. john, any more heart beat? any more signs of life, if you like? >> yeah, you know, what you're going to do with this vehicle when they talk about looking for the, you know, the signs of life, they are getting these little bleeps right now from curiosity. that it's alive. but now as we are watching images here, it is still very quiet. they are all in great anticipation. waiting as everybody is, for that signal to be relayed back to earth, that says, hey, i'm here. and i'm alive. and i'm well on the surface. and it is still going to be a few minutes, john, before we have that first confirmation and as we were talking earlier, it even could be quite a bit longer than that if the things don't align just right. >> i make it just about six minutes, hopefully, before we get some indication from curiosity. john, thank you for that. let's go to phil black who is standing by at cnn in moscow. and phil, the russians are actually contributing to this mission and they have a lot of experience, and not a lot of it good wl good, when it comes to sending probes it mars. >> john, on this particular mission, their involvement is specific. it relates to the science and exploration phase of the mission. the rover is carrying an instrument that is being supplied by the russian space agency. it will be used to detect and measure hydrogen beneath the surface. the possible presence of hydrogen would indicate the possibility there could be water or ice beneath the surface. that their involvement there. you are right in saying that rush why's experience under getting to mars, or trying to get to mars, is considerable. they know just how difficult it is to stage a mission like this. they've been trying to do it, well for some deblg aides, now. it was a long standing priority of the soviet space mission to explore the red planet. they had some successes. they had more failures. and post soviet union, there were two significant attempts to get there as well. both were unsuccessful. the most recent in november last year, the spacecraft was designed to travel the furtherest moon of mars, land, collect a sample from the ground there, and then return to earth. it was hugely ambitious. it had been years in the planning. but the failure was really quite embarrassing. it was not long after take off that the spacecraft failed. it never escaped the earth's lower orbit and eventually some months later fell back to earth and broke up on reentry. but russia has n