NASA has received a signal from its Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, which is now headed for Mars, shortly after the spacecraft separated from the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

The MSL, which carries the car-sized rover named Curiosity, was launched Nov. 26. Liftoff was on time at 10:02 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

In its latest update, the Mars Science Laboratory Project Manager said the MSL is flying free and now headed for Mars.

"Our spacecraft is in excellent health and it's on its way to Mars," said Pete Mars Science Laboratory Project Manager from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

According to NASA, the mission will pioneer precision landing technology and a sky-crane touchdown to place Curiosity near the foot of a mountain inside Gale Crater on Aug. 6, 2012 with the rover will investigating whether the conditions in Mars has ever been favorable for microbial life, including the chemical ingredients for life.

Curiosity is a well equipped rover with scientific payload that is 10 times more massive than the instrument sets taken to Mars by previous rovers. According to NASA, said some of the tools are the first of their kind on Mars, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking the elemental composition of rocks from a distance, and an X-ray diffraction instrument for definitive identification of minerals in powdered samples.

"We are ready to go for landing on the surface of Mars, and we couldn't be happier," said John Grotzinger, Mars Science Laboratory Project Scientist from the California Institute of Technology. "I think this mission will be a great one. It is an important next step in NASA's overall goal to address the issue of life in the universe."

"It is important to distinguish that as an intermediate mission between (Mars Exploration Rovers), which was the search for water, and future missions, which may undertake life detection, our mission is about looking for ancient habitable environments, " Grotzinger added.

"Science fiction is now science fact," said Doug McCuisition, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters. "We're flying to Mars. We'll get it on the ground... and see what we find."

For the successful launch, Theisinger thanked the launch team, United Launch Alliance, NASA's Launch Services Program and NASA's Kennedy Space Center for their help getting MSL into space.