BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — There's going to be a Mars festival in Bowling Green as NASA's Curiosity rover attempts to land on the red planet.

Western Kentucky University is inviting the public to the school's Hardin Planetarium on Sunday to watch the live NASA-TV satellite feed of the rover's scheduled landing on Mars. The feed will begin just before midnight, but doors open at 8 p.m. CDT for Mars-themed activities, speakers and exhibits.

The future direction of Mars exploration is hanging on the outcome of Curiosity's mission to determine whether the environment was once suitable for microbes to live.

Mars has a history of swallowing man-made spacecraft. More than half of humanity's attempts to land on Mars have ended in disaster.