KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers check the closure of the lander petals around the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-A). Visible now are the airbags that will inflate to cushion the landing on Mars. The lander and rover will subsequently be enclosed within an aeroshell for launch. The MER Mission consists of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. Identical to each other, the rovers will land at different regions of Mars. Launch date for this first of NASA's two Mars Exploration Rover missions is scheduled no earlier than June 6.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Workers check the closure of the lander petals around the Mars Exploration Rover 2 (MER-A). Visible now are the airbags that will inflate to cushion the landing on Mars. The lander and rover will subsequently be enclosed within an aeroshell for launch. The MER Mission consists of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day over various terrain. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. Identical to each other, the rovers will land at different regions of Mars. Launch date for this first of NASA's two Mars Exploration Rover missions is scheduled no earlier than June 6.
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