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Spotlight on Mars
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20-August-2008 Driving Test is a Wheel Success
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Like a racecar in need of high-performance tires, the next rover to explore Mars needs a rugged set of wheels. Like the racing tires, the off-road wheels must perform flawlessly. Together with a rugged suspension system, they must be lightweight, strong, and agile enough to handle extreme terrain. takes a lot of drilling to prepare to use a drill 100 million miles away, beyond the reach of humans. The Mars Science Laboratory rover is wasting no time doing just that. With an industrial-strength drill, the rover will pulverize the inside of hard, volcanic rocks on Mars and study the powder.

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30-June-2008 Mars Rover Gets the Drill
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It takes a lot of drilling to prepare to use a drill 100 million miles away, beyond the reach of humans. The Mars Science Laboratory rover is wasting no time doing just that. With an industrial-strength drill, the rover will pulverize the inside of hard, volcanic rocks on Mars and study the powder.

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12-May-2008 Third-Generation Mars Rover Dwarfs Predecessors
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Mars rovers appear to be shrinking with age! The biggest, baddest, newest rover being built is the Mars Science Laboratory rover (right). It's the size of a small sport-utility vehicle. Still exploring Mars four years after landing are the dune-buggy-sized rovers Spirit and Opportunity (left). The first-generation rover, Sojourner, is the size of a microwave oven.

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21-Apr-2008 Martian Eyes Are Watching
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The next set of "eyes" to journey to Mars are already busy observing people and objects on Earth. Keen vision will be essential to keeping the Mars Science Laboratory rover, a vehicle the size of a small SUV, out of trouble amid the red planet's cliffs, sand, and boulders.

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02-Apr-2008 No Speed Limit on Mars
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It's a good thing there's no speed limit on Mars, because the next parachute to fly to the red planet deploys faster than you can legally drive on a California freeway!

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11-Mar-2008 Keeping Time to a New Rover Beat
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Engineers worked late on March 7th, "keeping time" with an aggressive schedule for building the Mars Science Laboratory rover. Getting into a new rhythm of hard work to come, the mission team was upbeat as they kicked off a mission phase called ATLO (Assembly, Testing, and Launch Operations).

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07-Mar-2008 Big Wheels Cross The Finish Line...for Now!
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NASA's next mission to Mars gets rolling, as engineers on the mobility team cross a finish line of their own.

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20-Dec-2007 Alignment on December 24, 2007
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This is a special day that happens only every 26 months when Earth is exactly between the Sun and Mars. Find out more about opposition and experiment with Mars and Earth in their orbits.

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