Progress on the Next Mars Rover
Department:
Mars
Teaser:
"NASA's next-generation Mars rover, Curiosity, took its first baby steps on Earth today, making two slow drives forward and back on the floor of the clean room where it is being constructed."
Source:
SPACE.com Download time: Jul 24 2010 8:54 AM ET
NASA's next-generation Mars rover took its first baby steps on Earth Friday – a few short drives that herald its upcoming mission to the red planet.
"This is great, this is really exciting," said Ashwin Vasavada, deputy project scientist for the Mars Science Laboratory rover's mission. "This is a huge milestone...It's a rover."
The ambitious new rover, named Curiosity, took center stage in the clean room of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, showcasing a whole slew of new instruments and support features. It drove just about 3 feet (1 meter) back and forth in its first drives.…
See SPACE.com for links to further info.
Also see the Planetary Society Weblog.
