In just a few days time NASA scientists will either be breathing a huge sigh of relief and celebrate or alternatively, be heading for the whisky bottle to drown their sorrows - curious as to why?
Well, Curious is exactly the right word as 6th August will be make or break time for a $2.5 billion gamble when a nuclear powered Mars Science Laboratory rover, nicknamed Curious, will attempt a pinpoint landing in a giant crater on the surface of the planet Mars.
The spacecraft carrying Curiosity will have to endure temperatures of up to 3,800 degrees Fahrenheit,
deceleration of up to 15 Gs and the 65,000-pound yank when its huge parachute opens at supersonic velocity to slow it down to less than 200mph. The parachute will then be released and small rockets kick in to carry the Curiosity rover to near the surface, where it will be lowered down on a 65 foot tether
before being released to drop down the last few feet - or at least that is the theory!
If successful, over the course of the next two years Curiosity will act as a robotic geologist, taking high definition photographs of its surroundings, beaming back wide-angled panoramas and also close-up
microscopic views. The rover is equipped with 10 state-of-the-art instruments and a sophisticated robotic arm. It can drill into rocks and soil and collect samples for detailed chemical analysis.
The big event is scheduled to happen in the early hours of Monday 6th August (EDT) though the scientists and engineers of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, will have an anxious wait as it will take nearly 14 minutes for confirmation of a safe landing to travel the 154 million miles between Mars and Earth.
Good luck to Curiosity- hoping for a soft safe landing.
Take a look below to see a few words from Star Trek's William Shatner about Curiosity.
Well, Curious is exactly the right word as 6th August will be make or break time for a $2.5 billion gamble when a nuclear powered Mars Science Laboratory rover, nicknamed Curious, will attempt a pinpoint landing in a giant crater on the surface of the planet Mars.
The spacecraft carrying Curiosity will have to endure temperatures of up to 3,800 degrees Fahrenheit,
deceleration of up to 15 Gs and the 65,000-pound yank when its huge parachute opens at supersonic velocity to slow it down to less than 200mph. The parachute will then be released and small rockets kick in to carry the Curiosity rover to near the surface, where it will be lowered down on a 65 foot tether
before being released to drop down the last few feet - or at least that is the theory!
If successful, over the course of the next two years Curiosity will act as a robotic geologist, taking high definition photographs of its surroundings, beaming back wide-angled panoramas and also close-up
microscopic views. The rover is equipped with 10 state-of-the-art instruments and a sophisticated robotic arm. It can drill into rocks and soil and collect samples for detailed chemical analysis.
The big event is scheduled to happen in the early hours of Monday 6th August (EDT) though the scientists and engineers of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, will have an anxious wait as it will take nearly 14 minutes for confirmation of a safe landing to travel the 154 million miles between Mars and Earth.
Good luck to Curiosity- hoping for a soft safe landing.
Take a look below to see a few words from Star Trek's William Shatner about Curiosity.
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