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New Wheels (Animation)

July 7, 2010
In this image taken from a video clip, NASA's Curiosity rover's wheels are shown hoisted on a pink crane and moving closer to the rover's body. Video is available at the Photojournal.

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In this video clip, engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory install a set of six wheels onto the Curiosity rover, which is destined for Mars in late 2011. These will be the first set of wheels to ever touch down on another planet. On previous missions, airbags were used to land the rovers. On this mission, however, the rover will descend by a special tether system that will lower the rover onto the surface with wheels first.

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