Will the Martian Air Force Shoot Down Curiosity

Or could this scary landing sequence actually work?



Next stop, Mars.

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory and the Curiosity rover are preparing to enter the Martian atmosphere, following an 8 ½ month race to the Red Planet at 8,000 mph. By the time it arrives at Mars, gravity will have accelerated the spacecraft to a whopping 13,200 mph.

NASA must then slow it down.

Following “seven minutes of terror” beginning at 1:31a.m. EST early Monday morning – a reference to the nerve-racking landing NASA has planned, which involves Curiosity’s screaming race to the surface and a dangle off a rocket-powered sky crane – the rover will be set to begin its mission: the study of our planetary neighbor, and the quest for signs of life there.

“Curiosity is the culmination of a decade of exploration. We can now begin to move toward finding the fingerprints of life on Mars,” said Scott Hubbard, a Stanford University consulting professor of aeronautics and astronautics.

The space agency said Curiosity remains in good health, and was steering so smoothly between planets that a planned minor course correction Saturday wasn’t necessary. And with the gravitational pull of Mars already tugging on the spaceship, arrival is being closely monitored by the watchful eyes of mission control.

“After flying more than eight months and 350 million miles since launch, the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft is now right on target to fly through the eye of the needle that is our target at the top of the Mars atmosphere,” said Mission Manager Arthur Amador of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

In keeping with a decades-old tradition, peanuts will be passed around the mission control room at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory for good luck. The space agency said it was optimistic that everything would go according to plan.

"Can we do this? Yeah, I think we can do this. I'm confident," Doug McCuistion, head of the Mars exploration program at NASA headquarters, said Saturday. "We have the A-plus team on this. They've done everything possible to ensure success, but that risk still exists."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/08/05/mars-rover-curiosity-closing-in-on-red-planet-at-8000-mph/#ixzz22ieqRG9e


[url][/url]

Against tough odds, it landed!

We got a few thumbnail photos before the relay satellite exited.

Lots of excitement at JPL!

You think NASA could have bought a better camera. (Kidding! )

Looks pretty cool. Check out the specs...

* Top speed. 1.5 inches per second on flat, hard ground; less when using autonomous hazard-avoidance capability.
* Range. Designed and built for more than 12 miles.
* Off-road capability. Six-wheel drive. Can roll right over a 20-inch tall rock.
* Power. The nuclear battery (radioisotope thermoelectric generator) puts out about 110 watts, around the clock. Two lithium-ion batteries trickle charge from that and can put out more power for shorter durations when driving.
* Infotainment system. It can communicate directly with Earth via a high-gain radio in the "X" band of frequencies (7 to 8 gigahertz), but more routinely will send home information via relay to orbiting Mars spacecraft (Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) using the rover's UHF-band antenna.
* Air conditioning and heating. Thermal control system delivers heat to critical components from the radioisotope thermoelectric generator. Electrical heaters provide additional heat when and where needed.
* Steering. Four-wheel steering (independent for each wheel).

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... uriosity/1

Guess it's up to the Martian infantry and/or artillery now.... Rover on a Rope has landed, WooHoo. Pretty cool.

K-9 & I let it land lol

MsMAM wrote: K-9 & I let it land lol

That was very generous of both of you! Given the speed and agility of Curiosity it won't be a hard target for the Martian Army, should be a pretty easy artillery target. Any chance of a treaty that could allow Curiosity to carry out it's mission?

[youtube:s237ablc][/youtube:s237ablc]

otisptoadwater wrote:

MsMAM wrote: K-9 & I let it land lol

That was very generous of both of you! Given the speed and agility of Curiosity it won't be a hard target for the Martian Army, should be a pretty easy artillery target. Any chance of a treaty that could allow Curiosity to carry out it's mission?

[youtube:2wipfa70]

[/youtube:2wipfa70]

It was, wasn't it.