Posted: Mon, Jun 5, 2006, 1:54 PM ET (1754 GMT)
NASA announced Friday that it has selected an Atlas 5 to launch its Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover in 2009. The $194.7-million contract with Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services covers mission integration and launch services for the spacecraft. MSL is the agency's most sophisticated rover yet planned for Mars, with an RTG enabling long-duration operations on the Martian surface. NASA previously used an Atlas 5 to launch the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter last year and the New Horizons mission to Pluto in January; the twin Mars Exploration Rovers, still operating after nearly two and a half years on Mars, were launched in 2003 on Delta 2 rockets.
