Descent brake system will lower science lab to surface

CANTON, Ohio — Oct. 2, 2008 — The Timken Company (NYSE:TKR) has supplied bearings for a new descent brake system to be used on NASA's upcoming Mars Science Laboratory mission.

Scheduled to launch in 2009, the Mars Science Laboratory rover capsule will separate from the spacecraft to enter the Martian atmosphere.  In a series of steps, an aeroshell and then a parachute will slow the rover's descent.  In the final stage, a "sky crane" descent brake system will lower the rover on a 25-foot-long tether to a precise landing on the surface within seven seconds.

Timken provided needle roller bearings for installation in the SpaceDev descent brake system.  Timken has supplied super-precision ball bearings to SpaceDev for various applications on previous Mars rovers.
 

The mission of the robotic Mars Science Laboratory is to analyze soil and rock samples.  The craft will have greater range than any previous Mars rover.