Yesterday, an invader from another planet fired off a laser 30 times, in what we have to hope won't be seen as an act of aggression by any overlooked Martian inhabitants.
No this is not a report about a horrible diseases on Mars we could potentially bring back to Earth - that was pretty much the plot of The Andromeda Strain, except that disease came back from the moon.
Stunning images are already being beamed back from the Curiosity Mars rover as it undergoes a series of health checks before beginning its mission of exploration.
If there's any evidence of ancient life on Mars, it's likely to be found near the surface, new research suggests - dramatically upping the chances that it'll be discovered by the Curiosity rover, set to land next month.
NASA's picked the site for the next Mars rover landing - a spot inside the planet's Gale crater that the scientists say just might reveal whether the planet could have supported life.
