Hurtling through the atmosphere on a single parachute, transfer to braking thrusters, descent on cables from the skycrane stage… Possibly the most elaborate landing attempt in the history of space travel will take place on the 5th of August, when the Mars Curiosity Rover finally reaches its destination.
Will it work? Who knows… The plan is for the rover to slow its descent on a small parachute, drop the heat shield and transfer to braking thrusters. (All seems well so far) But when it reaches the surface, those thrusters would kick up a LOT of dust, which would immediately settle back on the rover. The trick is to lower the rover from the thruster module, the so-called “sky crane” manoeuvre… Releasing the rover when it touches down, the skycrane will then lift away and crash land a safe distance away.
This is an incredibly elaborate way to get to the surface, but the safest way to get around the complications of landing on a dusty planet with a tenuous atmosphere. (The old method was to cover the rover in airbags and let it bounce along the surface like an inflatable meteor)
Curiosity is the latest mission to Mars, equipped with the latest tech to give us incredibly detailed insights into the potential of life existing on Mars. Powered by a small Nuclear Fission reactor, Curiosity will explore Mars year-round, using it’s on board high-energy Laser to vaporise rocks and find their compositions, I don’t care how over-elaborate it would be, I want one of these as my car!
Keep checking back, more will follow in the countdown to touchdown!
Musings of a Scientist 