Update 11:08 Central: Curiosity now reported inside orbit of Martian satellite Deimos, about 14,000 miles away.

The moment of truth is close at hand. As the countdown clock shows, Curiosity will soon enter the Martian stratosphere. The Internet is buzz with excitement and no small amount of anxiety. The seven minutes of terror are about to begin for real. There’s a lot riding on it, both literally and figuratively. Some good links to keep tabs on are Mars Google Hangout (This has been a lot of fun tonight), NASA interactive event schedule, JPL TV, and NASA TV.

To understand the importance of this mission – and Curiosity is about as important a science experiment as we’ve ever created – here’s a quick peek at the fascinating history of our solar system’s most hospitable world, outside of the one we call home. Afterall, you have this much time to kill…