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Super Bowl of Planetary Exploration – Great Convergence of Spacecraft for Curiosity Mars Landing
Image caption: This artist’s still shows how NASA’s Curiosity rover will communicate with Earth during landing. As the rover descends to the surface of Mars, it will send out two different types of data: basic radio-frequency tones that go directly to Earth (pink dashes) and more complex UHF radio data (blue circles) that require relaying by orbiters. NASA’s Odyssey orbiter will pick up the UHF signal and relay it immediately back to Earth, while NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will record the UHF data and play it back to Earth at a later time. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity is just hours away from ‘do or die’ time and the high stakes and harrowing “7 Minutes of Terror” after an 8 month journey to touchdown on the Red Planet and potentially make historic discoveries that could ultimately answer the question ‘Are We Alone?’
An armada of spacecraft are converging at Mars for the historic landing of NASA’s Curiosity Mars Science Lab rover, the most daring, daunting and complex robotic mission that NASA has ever attempted. See the Video below(…)
Read the rest of Super Bowl of Planetary Exploration – Great Convergence of Spacecraft for Curiosity Mars Landing (660 words)
© Ken Kremer for Universe Today, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments |
Post tags: Curiosity, Curiosity Rover, Gale crater, Mars, Mars Rovers, Mount Sharp, NASA, Search for Life
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2012-08-05 20:25:54
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