Photos: Curiosity Rover, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory

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Biggest Heat Shield Prepared for Mars Spacecraft

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Lockheed Martin

The heat shield for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory is the largest ever built for a planetary mission.

Curiosity Mars Rover Mockup in Death Valley

NASA/JPL-Caltech

A mockup of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover gets its wheels dirty in sand dunes near California's Death Valley in early May 2012.

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Space.com Staff
Space.com Staff
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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.