NASA lift vehicle. The Space Launch System is intended to launch the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and other elements towards the Moon, near-Earth asteroids, and one day Mars. The Orion MPCV conducted an unmanned test launch on a Delta IV Heavy rocket in December 2014. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is currently scheduled to launch in May 2020. On August 6, 2012, NASA landed the rover "Curiosity" on Mars. On August 27, 2012, "Curiosity" transmitted the first pre-recorded message from the surface of Mars back to Earth, made by Administrator Charlie Bolden: NASA's ongoing investigations include in-depth surveys of Mars
Curiosity (rover) ground then fired several pyrotechnic fasteners activating cable cutters on the bridle to free itself from the spacecraft descent stage. The descent stage then flew away to a crash landing, and the rover prepared itself to begin the science portion of the mission. Live video showing the first footage from the surface of Mars was available at NASA TV, during the late hours of August 6, 2012 PDT, including interviews with the mission team. The NASA website momentarily became unavailable from the overwhelming number of people visiting it, and a 13-minute NASA excerpt of the landings on its YouTube channel