Curiosity - Mars Science Laboratory

[Ak5]

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft is healthy and right on course for a landing in several hours that will be one of the most difficult feats of robotic exploration ever attempted.

Emotions are strong in the control room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., as the hours and miles race toward touchdown of the car-size Curiosity at about 10:31 p.m. PDT tonight (about 1:31 a.m. Aug. 6, EDT).

"Excitement is building while the team is diligently monitoring the spacecraft," said Mission Manager Brian Portock of JPL. "It's natural to get anxious before a big event, but we believe we are very well prepared."

Descent from the top of Mars' atmosphere to the surface will employ bold techniques enabling use of a smaller target area and heavier landed payload than were possible for any previous Mars mission. These innovations, if successful, will place a well-equipped mobile laboratory into a locale especially well-suited for this mission of discovery. The same innovations advance NASA toward capabilities needed for human missions to Mars.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120805.html
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/

 

[LoneKiller]

This is so cool.
To say that this is intriguing, would be an understatement of the greatest magnitude.

 

[Gutted]

I hope everything goes well This is great! SHEEELLLLDOOOOOOON!

 

[The Good Citizen]

Yeah this is great news, I was watching a documentary on the landing procedure it seemed amazingly complex, must have been a huge relief when it landed and they got a signal!

I don't understand the argument that its a waste of money at all, it could confirm once and for all if life ever existed on another planet which is one of the most fundamental questions mankind could ever attempt to answer.

 

[sadface]

SO COOL

 

[Ak5]

Successful landing.

 

[Ak5]

Curiosity's descent on Mars.

[video=youtube]

 

[Felix]

The dude that made the software for the ship is Argentinian

Let's hope they discover good stuff!

 

[Grey]

I get excited for any sort of mission in space I've seen some of the photos and they are good, i hope they find some good stuff there in the years its going to be there. Have that to keep me busy keeping up on until New Horizons gets to Pluto in 2015.

 

[Badjedidude]

Most people don't realize how huge this is in terms of scientific advancement for mankind. They ***** and gripe about the $2.6 billion dollar price tag... apparently unaware that scientific advancements from NASA have provided mankind with numerous technologies, plastics, new metals, etc etc etc ad infinitum.

This Curiosity rover is the 16th successful mission NASA has ever sent to Mars... out of 19 total (from the US). That's a pretty **** good average of successful missions, and it can only get better from here. It's not impossible that a manned mission may be sent out in the next 30+ years. President Obama has set a target date for a manned mission by 2030, but that may or may not be feasible as an early date of departure. My point here is that I think that within my own lifetime, I will see man land on Mars.

...and that's pretty ******* huge.