PIA13273: Wheels Spinning
 Mission:  Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
 Spacecraft:  Curiosity
 Product Size:  2297 x 1293 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Other  
Information: 
JPL News Release 2010-273
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA13273.tif (8.921 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA13273.jpg (286.5 kB)

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Engineers just installed six new wheels on the Curiosity rover, and rotated all six wheels at once on July 9, 2010. This milestone marked the first in a series of "tune ups" to get the rover ready for a drive in the cleanroom where it is being assembled at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

This video clip shows a half dozen engineers gathered around the Curiosity rover as they get it ready to spin its wheels for the first time. All six wheels spun at once for several rotations. The rover will land on Mars wheels first in the summer of 2012.

Curiosity is the centerpiece of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, which is expected to launch in late 2011, and touch down wheels-first in summer 2012.

For more information about the mission, see: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Image Addition Date:
2010-07-13