NASA's 'Curiosity' heads to Mars

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched its six-wheeled, one-armed robotic rover into space Saturday, sending the world's biggest extraterrestrial explorer on its way to Mars.

According to a NASA statement the rover, nicknamed "Curiosity", has "monster truck" proportions and is expected to reach Mars next summer, after crossing 354 million miles.

Video: Reuters

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The rover is the biggest, best equipped robot ever sent to explore another planet.

Curiosity is meant to use its jackhammer drill, rock-zapping laser machine and other devices to search for evidence that Earth's next-door neighbor might once have been home to the teeniest forms of life.

Saturday's launch out of the Kennedy Space Center Cape Canaveral, Florida, was NASA's first launch to Mars in four years, and the first flight of a Martian rover in eight years.

AP and Avigail Lushi contributed to this report

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