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From Legs To Wheels Webcast Lecture

NASA's next mission to Mars, the Mars Science Laboratory, will be landing with an extremely unusual landing system -- a skycrane invented by the mission team specifically to land a large rover in scientifically exciting locations on Mars. But why not use "tried and true" solutions like legs or airbags? This talk will look at the fascinating history and evolution of how the skycrane landing architecture evolved from simple landing legs used on JPL's Surveyor lunar landers of the 1960s to the current design.

For more details on the lectures and webcast, head over to their website.

LCROSS & LRO Successful Launch!

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) are bound for the moon after a flawless liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard an Atlas V rocket.

Powered by two liquid-fueled engines and a pair of solid-fueled boosters, the Atlas V roared off the launch pad at Launch Complex 41 to begin NASA's return to the moon missions.

Send your name to Mars!

Be a part of history... Sign up to have your name travel to Mars on a microchip carried by NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover.

• Robotics online course: Watch the archive!
• Download: Saturn and Mars screen savers!
• Don't forget to check out the August Cool Links!
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