3 HN users recommended this explainer3 months2017–2021score 4
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
Recommended as a gripping look at how hard Mars entry, descent and landing is.
NASA's animated explanation of the Curiosity rover's Mars landing, which relied on a complex automated sequence taking about seven minutes. It features NASA engineers discussing the risks before the 2012 landing.
“Here's a video that blows my mind every time I watch it.” (HN, 2020)
For a dramatic coverage of this exact subject, I highly recommend 'Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror' [1] from NASA JPL. [1] [link] or on Youtube: [this video]
> Oh, it has to land like the Falcon 9 as well, except hovering and lowering itself on a tether, like the Air Cav for Mars. Here's a video that blows my mind every time I watch it. [this video] Such a complicated landing sequence, and needs to work correctly the first time, all autonomously. And it worked!
Complex autonomous landing sequence that had to work first time
1. About 6 months [link] 2. Out of ~50 missions, about 20 have failed. [link] 3. About 8 successful landings [link] Curiousity was by far the 'coolest' and still astonishes me that we pulled it off. [this video] 4. No.
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