Remember those spunky little rovers that were landed on Mars, sending back pictures of the Red Planet for years on end? Well, another rover is scheduled to touch down on Mars this Sunday, August 6.
It’s the size of an SUV, with massive digging arms, lasers, and automated laboratories that may settle the question of Martian life once and for all. The plan is for this 2000 pound vehicle, named “Curiosity,” to be dropped inside a Martian crater that appears to have once held water. The difficulty of this landing, requiring pin-point precision of all systems, is being described as “seven minutes of terror” for the NASA team trying to pull this off.
If it works, we will greatly expand our knowledge of Mars. And have some sublime photos of another world.
With Mars mission and rover Curiosity, NASA hunts building blocks of life – The Washington Post.