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Challenges of Getting to Mars. Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror

HuskAir

HuskAir

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I searched and could not find a topic on this...

Anyways, watch the news on August 5th/6th to see if this works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki_Af_o9Q9s

The things NASA thinks of and can do are amazing.
 
That was pretty cool to watch. To think of how hard that must be to accomplish without a single thing going wrong is incredible.
 
I think Nate posted this same video if Im not mistaken. Interesting stuff regardless.
 
I will definitely be tuned in to this. Seems pretty sweet.
 
One of my HS Team boys father works in Huntsville, AL as an aerospace engineer. He has a very unique perspective on everything. I could talk to him for hours. I once asked him what would happen if we shot a golf ball out of the air cannon they use to test impacts. He told me to come on over and we would find out. I certainly intend to do just that!!

Thanks for the link ......

hackin
 
Great stuff.

I've been following space exploration for a couple of decades, and distinctly remember watching the EDL videos from the current rovers (Opportunity/Spirit), and thinking they had about a snowballs chance in hell to actually survive. And yet here we are 8 years later, and they've racked up 25+ miles of driving between them. While Spirit has sadly become stuck in a dune, Oppy is still bravely chugging along. Having been designed for a 90 day mission, they really do represent a triumph of engineering.

Expecting the same level of success for Curiosity might seem a little greedy, but nevertheless my fingers are crossed!

I'll be glued to the screen come August, that's for sure.
 
Kmac said:
I think Nate posted this same video if Im not mistaken. Interesting stuff regardless.
Click to expand...

I don't know who posted it, but I remember it being here, I'm sure it got lost in the crash!!!
 
awesome watch, count me in as another person watching this next weekend
 
"Supersonic Parachutes" ... just ... wow ... so very impressive.
 
Wanted to bump this thread, as Curiosity will be scheduled to land at 10:31PM Pacific time tomorrow (1:31AM ET Monday morning). Excited for this.
 
Sooo looking forward to this. Going to be interesting to see how it all turns out!!
 
Working in the defense industry I see some amazing things that we create for our troops, but this is just crazy. Being able to control a rover from Earth is something every engineer can dream of.
 
In under 4 hours from now, MSL will rest on the Martian surface - but for now, it's still 33400 miles out going 8432 mph. Puts things in perspective for sure ..
 
wow...that is amazing
 
I can't wait to see the aliens :alien::alien2:
 
Kmac said:
I think Nate posted this same video if Im not mistaken. Interesting stuff regardless.
Click to expand...

You know I did and I just went to look for it and it's gone?? What the heck! Cookie playing tricks on me now....

And I thought it was 14 minutes of terror??
 
Well, the seven minutes refer to the time between the spacecraft touching the Martian atmosphere and the arrival at the surface, during which communication will be impossible. I'm guessing the 14 minutes would refer to the time it'll take for the signal (fingers crossed!!) to travel from Mars and back.
 
This is pretty cool, but how many gajillion is this costing me?
 
$2.5 billion. Pocket change really. :angel:
 
thedue said:
This is pretty cool, but how many gajillion is this costing me?
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken, tons of things we use today in our everyday life was started by one of these NASA missions. There is a huge list somewhere.
 
Nate said:
If I'm not mistaken, tons of things we use today in our everyday life was started by one of these NASA missions. There is a huge list somewhere.
Click to expand...

Yea, bet I can't afford any of them, lol. Just saying...
 
2.5 hours to go! My biggest worry, being that I'm on the east coast and staying up until 1:31 to watch for the signal, is that the stupid orbiter satellite is going out of range right around then. If it isn't going to stick around long enough, it'll be a few extra hours until we get any signal (or worst case, no signal at all). Super Pumped!!!

P.S. I'm a science guy, so no complaining about the few billions spent to advance homo sapiens sapiens each year (not nearly enough either). If you do, you must move to a forest somewhere and never use anything you don't make with your own two hands :) No taking golf clubs with you either ;)
 
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