How a $2.5 Billion Car-Sized Robot Will Land On...

This is pretty cool. On August 5th, a small car-sized rover will arrive at Mars, and be lowered to the surface by a crane. The graphic explains it all:

(Click Image for Source)

Because of the distance, by the time scientists receive confirmation of entry into the Martian atmosphere, the vehicle will have already been landed, hopefully not crash-landed, for seven minutes. That will be a long, uncomfortable wait for them!

Comments: 13

Betty S. Jun 26, 2012, 11:35am UTC

I'll let some else have those space cars..I think I[ll just bloom, where I was planted,

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Tessa D. Jun 26, 2012, 12:00pm UTC

can't wait to see the photos taken by the lander

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Dennis Gilman Jun 26, 2012, 1:49pm UTC

A six wheeled all wheel drive vehicle with independent suspension! WOW! I want one of those!

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David K. Jun 26, 2012, 3:40pm UTC

Very cool.

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John S. (arizona) Jun 26, 2012, 4:28pm UTC

Interesting stuff, I sure hope it works as planned. The last two rovers were great!

Matthew M. Jun 26, 2012, 6:31pm UTC

Yes, they lived many lives, haha.

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Gary (The Eclectic) Timothy Jun 26, 2012, 5:16pm UTC

It's certainly a new approach to landing. I'll be following progress very closely as the time nears for the landing. It will at least be very exciting! And then of course I'll be anxiously awaiting exploration activities, if everything goes as planned.

Thank you for posting this to Science In An Eclectic Universe!

Matthew M. Jun 26, 2012, 6:33pm UTC

All we need is some way to watch the show, I'd sure love to see it happen. I'll be very curious to see if it works, it probably will, or it wouldn't be at this stage.

Gary (The Eclectic) Timothy Jun 26, 2012, 9:36pm UTC

Yeah, that would be so very cool to watch happen! NASA's got a pretty good record with Mars rovers so far, but you never know what might go wrong. Once it starts happening, all we can do is cross our fingers and wait for that first signal from the surface of Mars.

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Denise L. Jun 26, 2012, 9:12pm UTC

Wow, that's not far from now. Really interesting.

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''The One & Only BERF .. Jun 26, 2012, 9:19pm UTC

".......a $2.5 Billion Car-Sized Robot Will Land On Mars"

Why???

Matthew M. Jun 27, 2012, 7:26am UTC

To explore...

Though if you question the use of taxpayer dollars on this, I'm with you completely. I say, space exploration must be left to the market. Despite that, I have no problem recognizing how amazing this is...

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Karen E. Jun 27, 2012, 1:12am UTC

Wow! Interesting!

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How a $2.5 Billion Car-Sized Robot Will Land On Mars

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