Mars Rover Has Valley Connection

By Dan Rubin, KSEE24 News

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August 10, 2012 Updated Aug 10, 2012 at 6:42 PM PDT

The Central Valley has its signature on the latest mars rover. Visalia native, Rius Billing, leads the team that built the vehicle's robotic arm.

The rover is called "Curiosity" and landed on Mars last Monday. Its mission is to collect and process soil samples to learn more about the red planet.

Rius literally signed his name on the rover before it blasted off almost nine months ago. He says his next mission is to recycle dead satellites in space.