Explanation:
Next week at this time, there may be an
amazing new robotic explorer on Mars.
Or there may be a
new pile of junk.
It all likely depends on many things going correctly in the minutes after the
Mars Science Laboratory
mission arrives at Mars and attempts to deploy the
Curiosity rover from orbit.
Arguably the most
sophisticated landing yet attempted on the red planet,
consecutive precision events will involve a heat shield, a parachute,
several rocket maneuvers, and the automatic operation of an unusual device called
a
Sky
Crane.
These "Seven Minutes of Terror" -- depicted in the
above dramatic video --
will
begin on Sunday, August 6 at about 5:24 am
Universal time, which occurs on Saturday night, August 5 for western
North Americans.
If successful, the
car-sized
Curiosity rover will rest
on the surface of Mars, soon to begin exploring
Gale Crater to better determine the habitability of this
seemingly barren world to
life --
past, present, and future.
Although multiple media outlets may cover this event, one way to watch these landing
events unfold is on the
NASA channel live
on the web.
