Curiosity rover is ready to take its last lap which shall giant leap on the Red Planet. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California announced that the rover has stretched its four cornered wheels to take its maiden drive on Mars. As per reports in Xinhua, on Tuesday, the six wheeled Curiosity wiggled its four corner wheels from side to side on Mars. This means that the rover is ready to take a stroll on the red planet. By the trials the steering actuators were tested on the wheels. This was supposed to be the most important step in the preparation for the rover's first ride on the red planet.

The main objective of Curiosity was to test the habitable nature of the planet and how it would be at different places. Of the six wheels the two wheels in the middle are used to propel and cannot tune. However the four cornered ones do the turning jobs on this two-year, USD 2.5 billion mission which weighs less than a tonne.

As per the initial announcements, Curiosity would be traveling a distance equal to a football stadium on an average per day. In the process it would test the conditions on the red planet. NASA is already planning ahead of the results another mission to the  red planet in 2016, known as InSight. This mission will test the rocky conditions of the red planet. (With inputs from internet-AW AarKay)