Landing on Mars: seven minutes of terror

[SteveRiley]

Where to watch live coverage
http://www.startalkradio.net/where-t...anding-online/

[GreyGeek]

I'll be setting on the edge of my chair chewing my fingernails for all seven minutes!

[HalationEffect]

Ahh, I do love a good story about smart people overcoming challenges in clever ways. Awesome stuff!

/multiple nerd-gasm

[pauly]

I really don't understand why they had to change from a concept that had already worked in the past. It looks like a mistake to me. Too many variables. I have a feeling it will fail. I hope not.

[GreyGeek]

I really don't understand why they had to change from a concept that had already worked in the past. It looks like a mistake to me. Too many variables. I have a feeling it will fail. I hope not.

That's why I'll be chewing my nails. My suspicions are that it will fail, my hope is that it will not.
I heard it explained a while back as to why they didn't bounce it off the surface. The reason given was that it was too big and too heavy for the bounce method.

[SteveRiley]

/multiple nerd-gasm

If NASA (hell, NOAA too) made more videos like that, then we'd have whole armies of teenagers grabbing their socks for science!

[HalationEffect]

If NASA (hell, NOAA too) made more videos like that, then we'd have whole armies of teenagers grabbing their socks for science!

But... but... I meant it in a purely cerebral sense!

Heh, a line from an old song from the '80s (One Night in Bangkok) is now in my head: "I get my kicks *above* the waistline, sunshine"

[capt-zero]

Hey, I'm already on the edge of my seat.

[GreyGeek]

Seven minutes of terror will became hours of total JOY! The landing was PERFECT, and with 10.2 meters of the intended target! The first three thumbnail photos were perfect, with just a little dust from the landing rockets still floating in the air. The Mars Oddessy moved out of range before the big pictures could be transmitted so it will probably be much later this morning before we will see them.

FANTASTIC JOB! (And I have no fingernails. The head of flight operations was pacing back and fourth like a caged tiger!)

[SteveRiley]

Indeed, very exciting! News briefing supposed to be starting any moment now...

[sealbhach]

It's an amazing achievement, I really doubted it would work. It took just one thing to go wrong.

[bsniadajewski]

YEs, GREAT JOB, NASA!!

[capt-zero]

What a wonderful way to wake up. What we will learn in the next few months, may well revolutionize our views of ourselves and our stellar neighbor. Way to go NASA!!

[whatthefunk]

Its amazing to see how much things have progressed in the last decade. Weve gone from parachuting down small solar rovers to take pictures and look at rocks to this: a one ton science lab on wheels that can laser through rocks, has a nuclear battery that will last over a decade, and was lowed to Mars via jet propelled crane. Wow! I cant wait to see what it discovers and what future space exploration equipment will be able to do.

[GreyGeek]

It's an amazing achievement, I really doubted it would work. It took just one thing to go wrong.

So did I. It was (is) a BOLD, audacious, daring, amazing concept with so many untested techniques and hardware. I gave it a 10% chance and I thought that was optimistic. Now, I'd wager, Skycranes will be the default landing procedure from now on.

Rather than have a powered decent to the surface, the idea of getting close but remaining above the surface, within 15 meters, and then lowering the rover to the surface gently was an amazing idea. I suspect that for a direct decent to touchdown there would be too much dust raised near the surface for the landing radar to give correct altitude readings, and if the engines shut off too soon the rover would drop to the surface and possibly get damaged. IF the engines shut off too late the rover might impact the surface too hard as well. Lowering it from a stationary platform 15 meters above the surface "NOW" seems practical.