The Timken Companyhas 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提供了针线滚轮轴承，用于在Spacedev下降制动系统中安装。蒂姆肯（Timken）已向先前火星漫游者的各种应用提供了超前的滚珠轴承。
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.