As I write this NASA's Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory is about six weeks away from its August 5th predicted landing in Gale Crater. The mission is progressing perfectly and all systems are go.
It is hard to imagine what Curiosity must go through in order to land safely on Mars and begin her mission of exploration. It is known as "the 7 minutes of Terror" to all associated with figuring out how to land a 10 foot long, one-ton spacecraft traveling at 13,000 miles per hour to zero miles per hour in that short time span.
NASA has released a You Tube video that gives you a front row seat to the tension and terror that spacecraft and mission team must go through to get to the surface of the Red Planet. Enjoy the 7 Minutes of Terror: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=146903741
More on the mission tomorrow.
Sky Guy in VA
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