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NASA's Curiosity Rover gears up for Mars

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Curiosity capsule and heat shield (Image: NASA/Glenn Benson)

Curiosity capsule and heat shield (Image: NASA/Glenn Benson)

Other Images from this Gallery

Location of landing site, within the 96-mile (154-km) -diameter Gale Crater (Image: NASA)

Underside of Curiosity Cruise Stage (Image: NASA)

Front view of Curiosity Mars rover (Image: NASA)

Size comparison of Curiosity to a 5'8' (1.72 m) man (Image: NASA)

Curiosity capsule (Image: NASA/Glenn Benson)

MSL flight system schematic (Image: NASA)

Location of DAN package on Curiosity rover (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Underside of the Descent Stage (Image: NASA)

The MSL within its protective faring and ready to transport (Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett)

Artist's rendering of Curiosity in Gale Crater, Mars (Image: NASA)

Map of Mars landing sites (Image: NASA)

Atlas V rocket first stage ready for delivery (Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett)

Curiosity Rover schematic (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Curiosity capsule and heat shield (Image: NASA/Glenn Benson)

The launch complex (Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett)

Location of DAN package on Curiosity rover (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Curiosity descent sequence schematic (Image: NASA)

Technicians practice Curiosity deployment (Image: NASA)

Curiosity launch sequence schematic (Image: NASA)

The Curiosity rover undergoes final testing (Image: NASA)

Curiosity Rover and the Descent Stage (Image: NASA)

Curiosity capsule (Image: NASA/Glenn Benson)

Atlas V rocket and payload schematic (Image: NASA)

MLS Aeroshell testing (Image: NASA/Kim Shiflett)

Curiosity capsule and heat shield (Image: NASA/Glenn Benson)

Atlas V protective acoustic faring (Image: NASA)

Article Summary

We've had our sights on NASA's Curiosity Rover (also known as the Mars Science Laboratory or MSL) for quite some time now. Well, it's finally ready and in a few short weeks, this amazingly advanced one-ton (900 kg) explorer will find itself atop a massive Atlas V rocket for the eight-month, 354 million-mile (570 million-km) trip to our red neighbor – the culmination of over seven years of development and US$2.5 billion in funding.

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