Curiosity weighed 5,293 pounds on Earth. It's the size of a small car and much, much bigger than the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which landed on Mars in 2004, cradled in airbags. Curiosity is simply too big for that, so it will be lowered to the surface by a heat shield, then a parachute, then retro-rockets, and finally a rocket-powered sky crane. That's something engineers have never tried before -- and that's what makes this so scary for them.
But what if it hits pay dirt? What if it really does find something? The results would probably not be conclusive, but they would be incentive for further exploration -- a tender subject at NASA because, hampered by budget cuts, it currently has no future Mars missions approved.
<br />http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/mars-curiosity-rover-landing-nasa-prepares-minutes-terror/story?id%3D16917187
No comments:
Post a Comment