Curiosity about Ready to Roll

Via the BBC:  Curiosity Mars rover to ‘drive, drive, drive’

The Mars Curiosity rover has all but completed its commissioning phase and is ready to begin its detailed investigation of the Red Planet.

The six-wheeled vehicle touched down in Gale Crater on 6 August (GMT).

Since then, daily activities have been dominated by system checkouts and instrument calibration work.

US space agency engineers say they have one final day of testing on Curiosity’s robotic arm to complete before handing the rover over to the scientists.

"After that, starting on Friday evening, the plan is to drive, drive, drive!" said Jennifer Trosper, a mission manager from Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

And then on to more Martian coolness.

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Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter