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WHAT'S NEW What's New | Newsroom View By Year:    2007    2008    2009 View By News Type:    Press Releases    Spotlights    All 11.17.09 NASA and Microsoft Allow Earthlings to Become Martians Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA and Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash., have collaborated to create a Web site where Internet users can have fun while advancing their knowledge of Mars. Spotlight 10.30.2009 A Mars Rover Named "Curiosity" NASA's next Mars rover, a super-capable robot named "Curiosity," will push Mars exploration to a new level. Spotlight 08.19.2009 Spring Training for the Rover Science Team Just as baseball players must train together before the season starts, the science team for "Curiosity" must be in top shape to operate the rover's 10 science instruments when it lands on Mars in 2012. Press Release 07.10.2009 Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory Heat Shield Readied for Next Mars Rover Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, has finished building and testing the heat shield for protecting the Curiosity rover of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory project. This heat shield is even larger than the ones used for protecting Apollo astronauts as they returned to Earth. Spotlight 06.12.2009 The Rover Gets Strong-Armed The Mars Science Laboratory rover will sport the biggest, toughest robotic arm the red planet's ever seen! This super-limb must lift 34 kilograms (almost 75 pounds) of instruments to reach out and test martian rocks and soil, which may hold clues about whether Mars could have supported life. Spotlight 06.08.2009 'Curiosity,' Meet Clara Twelve-year-old Clara Ma flew from Kansas to JPL to meet and sign the next rover that will zoom millions of miles to Mars. The trip is Clara's prize for winning an essay contest in which she named the rover "Curiosity." Press Release 05.27.2009 Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA Selects Student's Entry as New Mars Rover Name NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover, scheduled for launch in 2011, has a new name, thanks to a sixth-grade student from Kansas. Twelve-year-old Clara Ma from the Sunflower Elementary school in Lenexa submitted the winning entry, "Curiosity." Press Release 05.07.2009 Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA Releases Interactive 3-D Views of Space Station, New Mars Rover NASA released an interactive, 3-D photographic collection of internal and external views of the International Space Station and a model of the next Mars rover on Thursday, May 7. View the Photosynth Panorama Rovers in the JPL Mars Yard Spotlight 04.22.2009 Parachute During Tests for Mars Science Laboratory Testing during March and April 2009 inside the world's largest wind tunnel, at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., qualified the parachute for NASA's next Mars rover. Spotlight 04.22.2009 Large Parachute for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory The parachute for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission opens to a diameter of nearly 16 meters (51 feet). This image shows a duplicate qualification-test parachute inside the world's largest wind tunnel, at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Spotlight 04.22.2009 Mars Parachute Testing in World's Largest Wind Tunnel The parachute for NASA's next mission to Mars passed flight-qualification testing in March and April 2009 inside the world's largest wind tunnel, at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, to be launched in 2011 and land on Mars in 2012, will use the largest parachute ever built to fly on an extraterrestrial mission. This image shows a duplicate qualification-test parachute inflated in an 80-mile-per-hour (36-meter-per-second) wind inside the test facility. The parachute uses a configuration called disk-gap-band. It has 80 suspension lines, measures more than 50 meters (165 feet) in length, and opens to a diameter of nearly 16 meters (51 feet). Most of the orange and white fabric is nylon, though a small disk of heavier polyester is used near the vent in the apex of the canopy due to higher stresses there. It is designed to survive deployment at Mach 2.2 in the Martian atmosphere, where it will generate up to 65,000 pounds of drag force. Spotlight 04.22.2009 Open Parachute During Tests for Mars Science Laboratory Testing during March and April 2009 inside the world's largest wind tunnel, at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., qualified the parachute for NASA's next Mars rover. The parachute for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, to be launched in 2011 and land on Mars in 2012, is the largest ever built to fly on an extraterrestrial mission. Spotlight 04.22.2009 Parachute Opening During Tests for Mars Science Laboratory Testing during March and April 2009 inside the world's largest wind tunnel, at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., qualified the parachute for NASA's next Mars rover. The parachute for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, to be launched in 2011 and land on Mars in 2012, is the largest ever built to fly on an extraterrestrial mission. Spotlight 04.14.2009 Mars Science Laboratory Parachute Qualification Testing The parachute for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory passed flight-qualification testing in March and April 2009 inside the world's largest wind tunnel, at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Spotlight 03.28.2009 Heavy Duty Trust Building Trust--it's vital for each step of the Mars Science Laboratory mission. Engineers must trust each other and all the tests they've done while building the rover. Press Release 03.19.2009 Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory Online Poll For NASA's Mars Rover Naming Contest Opens March 23 NASA will post online nine names that are finalists for the agency's Mars Science Laboratory mission and invite the public to vote for its favorite. Spotlight 02.24.2009 Mars Science Laboratory Talks, Rocks, Bakes and Chills Before leaving Earth, Mars Science Laboratory is really put to the test to make sure it can survive the trip to the red planet. Press Release 01.16.2009 Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory Deadline Nears For Student Contest to Name NASA's Next Mars Rover NASA is issuing a last call to the nation's youth for entries in a contest to name the agency's next Mars rover.