For Mars rovers, a friendly rivalry
Monday, June 6, 2011 - 21:00
in Astronomy & Space
NASA's newest Mars rover, Curiosity, will be deployed to the planet to study rocks that may shed light on whether life existed there. But its cousin Opportunity, which is already there, may steal its thunder. NASA's newest Mars rover — or a replica of it, anyway — sat expectantly at the bottom of a hill. After years in design and construction, the grandly named Mars Science Laboratory was ready to test its wheels on a 20-degree flagstone slope in the "Mars Yard" at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge.