Get your summer on
Article updated: 12/29/2012 1:00 PM

Road trip on tap for NASA’s Mars rover in new year

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This NASA photo shows a color self-portrait of the Mars rover Curiosity. It is set to drive toward a Martian mountain in mid-February after drilling into a rock.

Associated Press

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NASA's newest Mars rover is gearing up for a road trip. But first, it has to drill into a rock. Curiosity's first priority in the new year is to test out its drill. The car-size rover landed in a crater near the Martian equator over the summer to great fanfare. Since then, it has been taking it slow.