Curiosity's parachute descent imaged by MRO

Curiosity's parachute descent imaged by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

I find the means of deployment of Curiosity to the surface by a "sky train" so Thunderbirds - its magic.

Further to this please see

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia15978b.html

... in fact there's a bit of me that can't quite believe this.

Mark C.

talk about right out of science fiction,
all I can say is WOW, the whole thing is really amazing !!! :huh:

Time-lapse sequence from Mars Descent Imager on Curiosity.

Last minute or so of descent - not great quality but the dropping of heat shield is very clear and you can make out the dust kicking up close to actual touch down (actual touch down does not appear to have been captured).

I found it best to download and play as one can get a larger window.

Caption text says it covers last two and half minutes - but it's only just over a minute long.

www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/ind...l?media_id=149974611

Mark C.

Hi,

Looks set to be a great mission, with lots of interesting terrain to explore.

The powered descent and crane happened so quickly, the craft was on the ground before one realised.

The only thing to mar the occasion was the Presidents Science Advisor, John Holdren's blunder:
"We are actually the only country that has landed surface landers on any other planet."


John

Dave_Lillis wrote: talk about right out of science fiction,
all I can say is WOW, the whole thing is really amazing !!! :huh:

There are those, of course, who will maintain that it is exactly that - science fiction - made in a Hollywood basement...

I actually heard Derek Mooney tell Leo Enright he couldn't call the debunkers 'nutters' (or a similar word) after Leo explained the imaging of the shadows of the USA flags (and other equipment etc.) showing that yes, man landed on the Moon. Derek responded with something about 'Photoshop®'.

We watched it live here and I have to say, it was over so fast but the relief of the JPL folks was palpable.

I actually think this video:

www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/ind...l?media_id=149974611

sums the whole thing up perfectly for the casual observer. Fantastic linking of the original 7 minutes grpahics with the JPL Hollywood basement, err, control room.

Dave

John Holdren is reported to have said: "We are the only country that has ever done anything like this", according to CBS news.

I think he is correct (though qualification would have helped) in terms of mass and complexity of vehicle, means of landing - and on a planet. The USSR did deploy the Lunokhods to the moon and they were pretty sizeable beasts (ca 800 kg).
I think the United States are clearly leading the game by a very wide margin.

Unfortunately twitter world and other social media has transformed his statement into
"We are actually the only country that has landed surface landers on any other planet."


www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57487326/ma...re-of-space-program/


Mark C.