NASA’s next Mars rover arrives in Florida
June 24th, 2011 - 12:01 pm ICT by IANSWashington, June 24 (IANS) NASA’s next Mars rover has completed the journey from its California birthplace to Florida in preparation for launch this fall, the US space agency said in a statement.
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, also known as Curiosity, arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre aboard an Air Force C-17 transport plane, Xinhua reported.
It was accompanied by the rocket-powered descent stage that will fly the rover during the final moments before landing on Mars.
The rover’s aeroshell — the protective covering for the trip to the Red Planet — and the cruise stage, which will guide it to Mars, arrived at Kennedy last month.
The mission is targeted to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station between Nov 25 and Dec 18. The car-size rover will land on Mars in August 2012.
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