Mars: Pop. 6

No gridlock yet, but traffic on the Red Planet is getting heavier

By Jeffrey Kluger Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008
    • NASA / JPL / Caltech

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    More ships are on the way, with NASA planning to launch another, larger rover--the Mars Science Laboratory--in 2009 and another orbiter in 2013. The European Space Agency hopes to launch its own rover in 2013. A robotic mission to gather rocks and return them to Earth is a key NASA objective, while the most tantalizing goal of all--a manned landing--remains a remote but credible goal. Until boots are actually on the ground, our robot proxies will have to do the exploring for us. So far, we have no reason to complain about their work.

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