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This is the next step in the search for life on Mars. NASA's latest rover, called "Curiosity", is ready to begin its journey to the Red Planet. The 2.5 billion dollar vehicle will launch on Saturday and commence its mission to assess whether conditions on the planet were ever favourable for the development of microbial life. Curiosity is equipped with tools and an on-board laboratory that allows it to drill into rock, collect a sample and analyse it. NASA scientists say identifying life won't be easy. Mary Voytek (Director, NASA Astrobiology Program): "There's going to be a challenge in recognising it, even if it ends up being just like life as we know it here. And there is the whole question of what if it isn't like we know it on earth? It uses different materials. If forms different structures. That's also going to be a challenge." The rover is scheduled for liftoff on November 26 and is due to land on Mars in August 2012. Curiosity will spend one Martian year, or 687 earth days, exploring the massive Gale Crater on the surface of the Red Planet. (Simon Hanna/Reuters) ◆ 追蹤更多華視影音及圖文新聞：
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