Comment by Chris Mitchell on August 4, 2012 at 3:19am

This will be a monumental achievement!

tho it's a shame nasa won't have a chase cam for this. I was hoping someone would re-enact the landing sequence with a quadcopter and rover, that would make for an excellent project. i would crash but i'm sure others have the skillz.

Comment by Ellison Chan on August 4, 2012 at 5:32am

I wonder why they didn't go with the airbags, which were already proven to be successful in previous missions.

Comment by R. D. Starwalt on August 4, 2012 at 5:48am

The rover on this mission is substantially larger than any other and the mass is also more substantial.

The 'ball' method also exhibits a large variability on where it will finally rest.

On the other hand... this contraption is orders of magnitude more complicated. There is no easy way to go to Mars.

I will have to tell you some stories of the undergrad course I took at KSC/Canaveral one day - SLSTP.

3D Robotics Comment by Alan Sanchez on August 4, 2012 at 8:15am

Can't wait to see this tomorrow :)

Comment by Savraj Singh on August 4, 2012 at 9:33am

I can't seem to find a link to a test video of the skycrane. It seems like they have never tested the whole system -- the best I can find is the crane extension part, when the thrusters are not firing.

Also, they didn't go with airbags because the weight of the vehicle would require enormous airbags that would add even more weight, iirc.

Looking forward to it working!

Comment by Richard on August 4, 2012 at 1:15pm

The airbag decision was down to weight - Curiosity weighs a lot.

They reckoned that airbags big enough to land it would be too big, too heavy and probably burst on impact anyway - drop a man on an exercise ball and it's a cushion, drop a car on it...

It dangles below the rocket pack because they don't want it covered in the backwash of the exhaust - or to carry around an empty rocket backpack for the rest of the mission.

All the apparently crazy ideas have good reason - but it still adds up to one interesting ride!

I'm going to be up early on Monday watching NASA TV, fingers crossed...

Comment by Adam Kimberlin on August 4, 2012 at 1:21pm

First, here is a pretty cool web-based simulation of the mission that you can control:

http://eyes.nasa.gov/player/exit.html

Second, here is a pretty good picture to give you an idea of how big Curiosity is:

Comment by tycinis on August 4, 2012 at 2:30pm

La descente périlleuse de Curiosity sur Mars par LeNouvelObservateur

Comment by IKE on August 4, 2012 at 2:55pm

A few links about this amazing mission:

A real time (and more!) java tracker from NASA: http://eyes.nasa.gov/exit.html

The latest episode from Robots Podcast on JPL Open House 2012JPL Open House 2012 :

http://www.robotspodcast.com/podcast/2012/07/robots-jpl-open-house-...

An overview of MSL Curiosity and its mission: http://robotpig.net/aerospace-news/mars-science-laboratory-msl-curi...

And the amazing video from JPL showing the full mission, from launch, martian atmosphere entry, skycrane landing and geological sampling:

Comment by Jack Crossfire on August 4, 2012 at 3:06pm

Dave had a good rant about it.  After designing many autonomous landing systems & crane systems, the landing is actually easier than the takeoff & cranes are a lot easier than something that flies, but it's never been tested in the actual environment.

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