March transports NASA’s Mars exploration robot rover

Technical Sgt. Kenneth Brooks, an Air Transportation Specialist with the 56th Aerial Port Squadron, and Airman Jaron Buchanan, an Air Transportation Specialist with the 50th Aerial Port Squadron, secure NASA’s newest Mars exploration vehicle to a 60K loader so it can be loaded into a C-17. March ARB personnel are working with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to get the spacecraft its Air Certification so it can be transported to Cape Canaveral, Fla. It is scheduled to launch in 2011 to assess whether Mars was, or still is, an environment able to support microbial life, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s website. (Air Force photo by Senior Airman David Flaherty)

March transports NASA’s Mars exploration robot rover

Wheels were first attached to NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover in August 2008. The rover and its descent stage and cruise stage are being assembled and tested at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for launch in 2011. The rover has a ground clearance of about 60 centimeters, or 2 feet. The wheel base is 2.2 meters, or 7 feet. (Photo courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

March transports NASA's Mars exploration robot rover

Published March 2, 2009
By Senior Airman David Flaherty
452 AMW Public Affairs

MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, Calif. -- NASA's latest Mars exploration robot receives its air certification at March ARB so it can be transported on the C-17 Globemaster III.

The Mars Science Laboratory rover will be flown to Cape Canaveral, Fla., on a C-17 from March ARB. It is scheduled to launch in 2011 to assess whether Mars was, or still is, an environment able to support microbial life, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's website.

"Anything that is loaded on a C-17 needs to receive an Air Certification first," said Chief Master Sgt. Robert Ehlers, the senior air reserve technician with the 56th Aerial Port Squadron. "[The MSL rover] is what we call an oversized piece of cargo because it extends past the pallet. Once we determine out how it will fit on the jet, we'll tell [the certification agency at] Wright-Pat how we got it on the aircraft so they can approve it."

Once the MSL rover receives its air certification, any C-17 in the Air Force's fleet can be used to transport the spacecraft. Because the agency developing the MSL rover, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is located in Pasadena, Calif., transporting the rover from March ARB is faster than trucking the machine across the country, said Chief Ehlers.

The Mars Science Laboratory is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort to robotically explore the red planet.

Arriving at Mars in 2012, NASA hopes the Mars Science Laboratory rover will serve as an entree to the next decade of Mars exploration, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's website.