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NASA plans to explore Mars using astronauts in robotic rover missions

NASA's Curiosity rover zaps a martian rock in

Photo credit: AP | NASA's Curiosity rover zaps a martian rock in this artist's rendering. (Aug. 5, 2012)

NASA's future plans to explore Mars may end up using astronauts as space messengers.

The new idea surfaced as a special team looking for a new Mars robotic exploration plan released a preliminary report Tuesday.

One of the option calls for a Martian robotic rover to collect rocks on the red planet. Later, astronauts in a newly built spaceship would be used to pick them up from a cosmic...

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