QnAs with John P. Grotzinger. Interview by Prashant Nair.

In late November 2011, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to launch its robotic explorer to scour Mars for signs of the planet’s ability to support life. The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, shuttling Curiosity, an SUV-sized rover with a hefty scientific payload, to the red planet’s surface. John Grotzinger, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and professor of geology at the California Institute of Technology, helps oversee the mission. He became involved in the quest after studying how changes in the Earth’s environment helped influence animal diversity in some parts of our planet. Here, Grotzinger discusses the MSL with PNAS