The Columbia Memorial Space Center will host a "landing party" this Sunday for the Mars rover Curiosity.

Launched in November, Curiosity has been traveling 142 million miles to Mars where it will complete a series of research missions. It's scheduled to make landfall Sunday night.

The missions will investigate whether the conditions on Mars have been favorable for microbial life.

Curiosity will also examine rocks to search for signs of past life.

The landing party starts at 9:30 p.m. and admission is $5. In addition to watching the landing, there will be a scientific presentation about Curiosity and star gazing.

For more information, call the space center at (562) 231-1200 or e-mail info@downeyspacecenter.org