So, 1 Week to go

Untill Curiosity lands on Mars!

6.31am UK time on the 6th August.

Will anyone else be watching this?

I hope it lands in one piece! Not had much luck with getting rovers etc there of late!

 

meee, i'm fascinated with t these things after playing mass effect

 

Damn, I'm getting these binox but cant afford them yet, they would be perfect!
https://www.garrettoptical.com/Garrett-100mm-Binocular-Telescope-p/gt100-45.htm

 

Howard from The Big Bang Theory will be delighted!
After all, he drove the last one into a ditch on Mars.

 

That's what happens when you allow someone who isn't a doctor doing it :3eyes:

 

Wanna' watch? Go to Times Square in NY, or hit this link:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

 

yes mate i'll be watching. only 5 days to go now. heres a documentry if anyones intrested.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01llnb2/Horizon_20122013_Mission_to_Mars/

fingers crossed she lands safely.

 

If they pull it off it's going to be the most impressive rover landing in history. They couldn't even do test runs on Earth because of environmental and gravity conditions. So basically they are risking dropping $2.5B onto Mars using something they've only simulated in computer models and math.

Pretty awesome feat if you ask me.

 

Truth be told, there's not as much risk involved, when it's not your $2,500,000,000 you're dropping. It's mine. It's anyone who pays taxes in the U.S.A. It's not their bank account at risk.

Still awesome, don't get me wrong - but it's the everyday tax payer who is sending the rover out there.

 

And how you want to do a landing in mars, if you are on the EARTH, apart from simultations? ._. This one is the first "real simulation".

 

Rocks, rocks, and more...Rocks!!!

 

Looks like chocolate chip ice cream

 

I hope they run into some autobots, or even decepticons.

 

I would have watched it live, but its at 6am :/

Definitely something I want to see though, the rover looks beastly.

 

Uh, seriously?

The previous landings used a parachute followed by cushions that absorbed the impact. They tested that method on Earth extensively, mainly because if the craft they used survived impact on earth it would most definitely survive with Mars' lower gravity. But it was definitely testable, it was replicated before it ever was tried on Mars with a billion dollar rover.

This method they are going to use a hover crane to drop the rover onto the surface. All in all it's a four part descent with extremely tight tolerance requirements. They never tested anything like this physically on Earth.

Physical tests can show you issues that a computer doesn't replicate. And, even when the environmental parameters don't match you can infer Mars performance based on the Earth data.

 

yes yes, but what UNDERNEATH those rocks is the question! :banana:

 

just 11 hours left!! ^_^

 

Hopefully they'll manage to land the thing or they could just as well have launched a fully loaded dumpster/skip into space.

 

with 2.5b in risk im sure that thing has little room for fail if they decided to launch it

 

I'll be watching!