Despite having their budget cut to the bare bones NASA is still determined to go where no man has gone before, or in this case send a rover where no rover has gone before.
November 25th will see NASA launch their new rover mission to Mars. The new car sized robot called Curiosity will launch with an eye to land in August 2012. At 10 metres long and weighing in at 1 tonne this is the largest rover ever to go up into space as part of the mars missions.
Onboard the rover will be a 7ft mast which will carry cameras and laser firing equipment which will enable the robot to carry out a variety of tasks, or for a more personal approach it has a 7ft fitted arm to examine soil and rock samples.
It is being sent to Mars to further investigate the possibility of Mars one day being habitable. The sorts of experiments it will carry out while on the surface of the red planet will include studying soil and rock composition, gather weather information and test the radiation levels of the surface.
This experiment will lead the way to a manned mission to Mars in the future but also try to answer questions scientists have always wanted to know, the main one being whether life every existed on Mars.


Star Wars has become such an indelible part of popular culture that it's hard to imagine how bat-shit crazy some of George Lucas's ideas were when the movies were first released a long time ago in a galaxy...er...this galaxy actually. I mean, Jawas? The force?? A PLANET WITH TWO SUNS????
Scared of our inevitable annihilation at the hands of a huge network of connected supercomputers? Seen the Terminator flicks? Then you may want to stop reading.
When it comes to UFO's and little green men, the truth may well be out there, but the UK's Ministry of Defence doesn't have the dough to find out. Newly released government files concerning UFO sightings show that a lack of money and interest on behalf of the authorities is keeping alien lifeforms very much in the realms of the final frontier.


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