Curiosity rover to make landing on Mars on Aug 6

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Curiosity rover to make landing on Mars on Aug 6

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NASA's Curiosity rover is on course to land on Mars on August 6.

17 July,2012 04:28 am

On August 6, if all goes well, a robotic geologist will arrive on Mars. NASA scientists gave details on Monday about their latest Mars mission, which will try out a new strategy for searching for life beyond Earth.If the Mars Science Laboratory, a wheeled rover nicknamed Curiosity, touches down safely -- which is by no means a given -- scientists expect to have two years to collect information about Mount Sharp and the surrounding area.NASA hopes to land the Mars rover on a flat surface as close as possible to the base of Mount Sharp using a first-of-a-kind, rocket-powered sky crane.The exact landing spot will depend on the crafts final steering maneuvers as it races toward Mars.Mars Programme Director Doug Mccuistion said the landing was not without its risks.Is it crazy? Well, not so much. Once you get comfortable, once you understand it, its not a crazy concept. It works. Is it risky? Landing on Mars is always risky. There are hundreds of discreet events that occur from release of the cruise stage to parachute deployments to heat shield deployments.All of these are unique and any one could cause problems. We go from 13000 miles an hour to zero in seven minutes. Thats quite a challenge in itself. And then theres the unknown. Theres Mars. Mars throws things at you. Dust storms, atmospheric density changes, wind. So its a very unique and a very challenging environment, he said.Rather than hunt for microbes like the Viking missions of the 1970s, NASAs Mars Science Laboratory will look for places that could have hosted and preserved life.The rover blasted off aboard an unmanned Atlas 5 rocket on Nov. 26 for a nine-month, 60-million mile voyage that is due to end at 1:30 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6. ‎