Science On Top

SoT Special - Curiosity Landing

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The Mars Science Laboratory, called "Curiosity", is the largest spacecraft we've sent to another planet. Weighing 900kg, packed with ten scientific instruments, 17 cameras and a nuclear power source the rover is looking for signs that Mars could have supported life at some point.

I caught up with Lucas Randal, Sumen Rai and Alan Kerlin to talk about the complicated Entry, Descent and Landing procedure and the rover's two-year mission.

Watch the incredible 7 Minutes of Teror video.

Related links and stories we talked about in this show:

  • Curiosity puts wheels on Mars via Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
  • Alan Kerlin's blog, featuring lots of interviews with people related to the mission
  • Mars in a Minute: How Hard Is It to Land Curiosity on Mars?
  • Emily Lakdawalla's detailled breakdown of the Entry/Descent/Landing: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3
  • Mars Landing Broadcast on Ustream Outperforms Cable TV, Company Says
  • NASA's 'Mohawk Guy' draws 'Curiosity' of his own
  • NASA's constantly updating image archive

    • This episode uses clips from various NASA productions believed to be in the public domain, and an excerpt from This Week in Tech's special Curiosity episode, used under the Creative Commons license.

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    Science On TopBy The Science on Top Team
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