7 minutes of terror before Mars landing

[Doomsday101]

n just six weeks, NASA's next Mars rover will attempt an unprecedented landing on the Red Planet that will have mission engineers on the edge of their seats with excitement and worry.

The 1-ton Curiosity rover — the centerpiece of NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission — is due to touch down inside the Red Planet's Gale Crater on the night of Aug. 5. But it won't be easy.

"Entry, descent and landing, also known as EDL, is referred to as the 'seven minutes of terror,'" EDL engineer Tom Rivellini, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., said in a recent JPL video.

"We've got literally seven minutes to go from the top of the atmosphere to the surface of Mars, going from 13,000 miles per hour to zero in perfect sequence, perfect choreography, perfect timing," Rivellini added. "And the computer has to do it all by itself, with no help from the ground. If any one thing doesn't work just right, it's game over."



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012...e-mars-landing/?intcmp=features#ixzz1yubXFiSb

 

[YosemiteSam]

It takes about 10 minutes for radio communications to get back and forth from Mars. So, it's not like they can manually control the landing either. :laugh2:

It will have landed (or crashed) before we even have any evidence that it has entered the Martian atmosphere.

We are basically blindly landing $2.5 billion dollars on Mars. :laugh2:

 

[Yeagermeister]

7 mins of terror.....that's what Mrs. Sarge calls Sarge tearing in to a case of PBR

 

[Doomsday101]

It takes about 10 minutes for radio communications to get back and forth from Mars. So, it's not like they can manually control the landing either. :laugh2:

It will have landed (or crashed) before we even have any evidence that it has entered the Martian atmosphere.

We are basically blindly landing $2.5 billion dollars on Mars. :laugh2:

Yep but If it can be done then the egg heads and NASA can pull it off. I look forward to watching the NASA channel on the day they attempt this landing

 

[StevenOtero]

7 mins of terror.....that's what Mrs. Sarge calls Sarge tearing in to a case of PBR

 

[DallasEast]

7 mins of terror.....that's what Mrs. Sarge calls Sarge tearing in to a case of PBR

 

[speedkilz88]

That last rover worked out so well.

 

[YosemiteSam]

That last rover worked out so well.

The US alone has launched three of them. Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity.

Curiosity will be the fourth.

 

[Doomsday101]

The US alone has launched three of them. Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity.

Curiosity will be the fourth.

This one looks to be much larger than the others that were sent to Mars

 

[YosemiteSam]

This one looks to be much larger than the others that were sent to Mars

Yeah, this one is a beast. I believe they fixed all the issues that nagged Spirit and Opportunity. Like the wheels getting stuck in sand and the dust on the solar panel issues.

 

[Doomsday101]

Yeah, this one is a beast. I believe they fixed all the issues that nagged Spirit and Opportunity. Like the wheels getting stuck in sand and the dust on the solar panel issues.

I know one of the current rovers has lasted beyond their expectation.

 

[Joe Realist]

7 mins of terror.....that's what Mrs. Sarge calls Sarge tearing in to a case of PBR

Are you sure it isn't the 7 minutes right after the case of PBR?

:laugh2:

 

[cowboyeric8]

Are you sure it isn't the 7 minutes right after the case of PBR?

:laugh2:

That's probably much shorter than 7 minutes

 

[SaltwaterServr]

I know one of the current rovers has lasted beyond their expectation.

It was expected to run for 92.5 days. That was from the end of January of 2004. Its slightly out of warranty.

 

[Mitcha68]

I think this one has a bigger drilling unit. I think they want to get deeper core samples to check to see of they can find any fossils.