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Spotlight on Mars
This image shows the front sides of three rovers viewed at an angle. On the right is the Mars Science Laboratory rover, which is the size of a small sport utility vehicle. Its 7-foot-long arm is extended in front of it, resting on the pavement. The camera 'eyes' at the top of its mast are turned downward at its smaller predecessors. In the middle, the tiny, wagon-size Sojourner rover has a deployable, alpha-particle X-ray spectrometer and single-color camera attached at its rear. On the left, the dune-buggy-size Mars Exploration Rover has its robotic arm extended in front of it, resting on the pavement. The panoramic camera 'eyes' at the top of its mast are turned upward, as if 'looking' at the bigger Mars Science Laboratory rover. All three rovers have six wheels, rocker-bogey suspension systems, rectangular bodies, solar panels, and antennas pointing upward from their spacecraft decks.

Third-Generation Mars Rover Dwarfs Predecessors - 05/12/08

Mars rovers appear to be shrinking with age! The biggest, baddest, newest rover being built is the Mars Science Laboratory rover (right).

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Recent News
Read the feature 'Mars Rovers Sharpen Questions About Livable Conditions' Mars Rovers Sharpen Questions About Livable Conditions
Like salt used as a preservative, high concentrations of dissolved minerals in the wet, early-Mars environment known from discoveries by NASA's Opportunity rover may have thwarted any microbes from developing or surviving. >>
Read the release 'Astronomers Monitor Asteroid to Pass Near Mars' Astronomers Monitor Asteroid to Pass Near Mars
Astronomers funded by NASA are monitoring the trajectory of an asteroid estimated to be 164-feet wide that is expected to cross Mars' orbital path early next year. >>
Read the feature 'Alignment on December 24, 2007' Alignment on December 24, 2007
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. >>
Read the release 'Spectrometer on NASA Orbiter Maps Minerals at Possible Landing Sites' Spectrometer on NASA Orbiter Maps Minerals at Possible Landing Sites
The mineral-mapping instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been examining candidate landing sites for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory. >>
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