This artists rendering provided by NASA shows the Mars Rover, Curiosity. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity will attempt a landing on Mars the night of Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/NASA)
This artists rendering provided by NASA shows the Mars Rover, Curiosity. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity will attempt a landing on Mars the night of Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/NASA)
FILE - In this 2011 file artist's rendering provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech, a "sky crane" lowers the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover onto the surface of Mars. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity will attempt a landing on Mars the night of Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech, file)
FILE - In this 2011 artist's rendering provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech, the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover examines a rock on Mars. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity will attempt a landing on Mars the night of Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech, file)
FILE - This Sept. 16, 2010 file photo shows engineers working on the Mars rover Curiosity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity will attempt a landing on Mars the night of Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, file)
In this July 25, 2012 photo, Rob Manning, chief engineer, speaks to media at NASA Mars Yard at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena Wednesday, July 25, 2012. Beside Manning is a model of the Mars rover, Curiosity. After traveling 8 1/2 months and 352 million miles, Curiosity will attempt a landing on Mars the night of Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) ? NASA's most ambitious and expensive Mars mission begins this weekend with the arrival of the smartest rover ever built.
Like an Olympic gymnast, the rover must "stick the landing."
It won't be easy. The touchdown for the rover called Curiosity is so risky it's been described as "seven minutes of terror." That's the time it takes to slow down from a blazing 13,000 mph to a complete stop with the help of a parachute, heat shield and rockets.
In a new twist, the rover will be lowered by cables from a hovering spacecraft.
Scientists on Earth won't know for 14 minutes whether Curiosity safely landed Sunday night.
If all goes well, Curiosity will spend two years trying to figure out if the Mars environment was once suitable for microbes.
Associated Presssoulja boy did the groundhog see his shadow punxsutawney phil groundhog day ground hog donald trump groundhog day 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.