Technologies of Broad Benefit: Propulsion

Propulsion technologies provide the energy to get to Mars and conduct long-term studies. Below is an example of the way in which the Mars Science Laboratory mission benefits from past technological development.

Mars Science Laboratory will be NASA's third mission to use a rocket from the Atlas V family as its launch vehicle.

The Atlas V family of rockets is very reliable and was used to launch NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and New Horizons missions.