MSL EDL

[rideswithscissors]

This video brought me to tears, very moving to me, a planetary exploration fan since Sputnik. Telstar! Mercury, Gemini, those astronauts were real heroes to a small town boy like me, even the Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, first in Space, the cold war did not interfere with my respect for him. I watched every single Apollo launch from my backyard in Florida, stayed up late for the Apollo 11 landing on TV, Walter Cronkite did too! Then came Skylab, what fun! The Soviets joined us there...SPACE!

[grhabyt]

Please post a non-Flash version of this! I can't show it to anyone on my phone (= lost publicity for NASA)

[gpspilot1]

Is this really the most efficient way to land a large rover? The sky crane appears to be about three times more massive than the rover itself.

[Evil1gel]

@gpspilot1

Airbags for a mass of a 900 kg weight rover would be also heavier than the rover itself and the impact-energy would be destructive or at least critical with the speed the much smaller MERs landed.

This will be awesome, hopefully not a beagle2-revival :-)

[landerzoo]

how do they already have cameras on mars just where the probe happened to land? this is BS just like the moon landings. wake up, sheeple!

[jmslazarus]

MSL? More like MSI - Mars Surface Impactor.

God speed. That thing is gonna kick ass, providing it gets there.

[danaelam]

what happened to the engineering principle of " keep it simple stupid"? that's a way too complicated landing system, so much could go wrong

[RobotN001]

FSM bless MSL !

[RobotN001]

замусорят всю планету.

парашют, ракетный ранец будут валяться где попало.

привыкли захламлять.

[DrasarSalman]

@RobotN001 Why do every Russian on the internet assume their language is the global main tongue?

[deivuuk]

LOL, that little flying thing which is going to drop off the MSL is going to crash for sure. Those little retro rocket things are going to pack up, I bet.

[xrd1Hal9000]

Please stop adding useless music to YT videos

[TheFlandrien]

Let's hope Curiosity is equipped with good shock observers...

[mrcole92]

Hey, anyone know what music that was?

[Zoxtar]

Nice animation. Good job

Zoxtar.com - The science Fiction Images Stock

[prokiddude]

Its Walle on mars!

[rockstone20101]

what is the music by the way?

[mrteemumilto]

@rockstone20101 Generic, for the video

[rockstone20101]

nice! now what is missing is just the landing location (i think because they may have chosen one already)

[Craigthepope]

It lands in such a cool way

[meteor4163]

This project will be so much more epic than spirit and opportunity!

I'm so hyped and waiting for this since 2007.

[you2tube22]

It´s begging for a failure.... Retrorockets fail, then crash....

[NelielTuOderswank]

@you2tube22 How is it begging for failure? EVERY mars lander has used retrorockets for descent. Vikings 1 and 2, Pathfinder, MER-1and MER-2 and Pheonix. It is the only way to land on Mars.

[sbergman27]

@NelielTuOderswank Well, Paul Mahaffy, Principle Investigator for SAM, describes the landing system as "pretty gee whiz". While retro rockets have been used, the success rate for landers not using airbags has been poor. Presumably, we've gotten better at this. And it *should* work, as long as they get their units right, and don't mistake furlongs for meters, or stones for newtons.

[NelielTuOderswank]

@sbergman27 The rate for lander's without airbags has been poor?

-Viking 1

-Viking 2

-Phoenix

Not to mention every spacecraft that uses airbags also relies heavily on retrorockets. Only one American Mars lander has been lost, which was due to poor metric conversions (Mars Polar Lander). America has a profound success rate with Mars, and is the only country to have successfully landed and continued to transmit from the surface.

[sbergman27]

@NelielTuOderswank Overall, roughly 2/3 of Mars missions have failed. (Nicely summarized in a tabular form at WP.) You can say that things have gotten better (which I did) or that it's just that the Russians are stupid, unlike the folks at NASA (which I didn't). But the fact is that landing on, or even orbiting Mars is still a risky proposition. I'm not saying that I think the engineers have not made the best decisions re: the landing system. I'm saying that there is a real chance of failure.

[NelielTuOderswank]

@sbergman27 I said very specifically (American landers). By your logic, all of the soviet probes failed because they did not have airbags. No, they failed because they were poor dupes of the Luna program. Fact of the matter is, NASA landed just as many airbag landers have landed successfully as non airbag, and ontop of that, they boast the only successful landers.

[sbergman27]

@NelielTuOderswank What is it, exactly, that you are so upset about?

[NelielTuOderswank]

@sbergman27 I'm not the butthurt one. All I'm showing is that we landed on Mars long before we used airbags, and to call this system unsafe or unreliable, is ridiculously unfounded(Especially considering the airbag systems used extremely similar bridle/retrorocket configuration to the crane). To say you have more insight on the subject than every scientist working on this project, I can't imagine how large your ego can be.

[sbergman27]

@NelielTuOderswank Are you sure you're not either conflating my comments with those of someone else, or reading a lot more into them than is warranted? If you could please specify what it is you are objecting to, we could probably sort it all out.

[NelielTuOderswank]

@sbergman27 I'm referring to the fact you have the audacity to compare some cheap Luna program dupes to our highly advanced Mars landers. They are not comparable, so do not attempt to. Over 40 years separate them to begin with. America has lost only one lander, and it was not because of lack of an air bag, but because of a sensor failure, likewise, its orbiter failed because of poor metric conversions. Every other program has lost every single Mars lander.

[sbergman27]

@NelielTuOderswank Oh. A US Supremacist. How very tiresome. While I was born in the US, live in the US, and am a US citizen, I do not share your arrogance. Now, if you will excuse me, there is are a couple of talks on the recently released Planck Observatory data, and an update on the 574 TeV heavy ion collisions at LHC that I've been meaning to watch again. The latter covers the migration of particle physicists, like Brian Cox, from Batavia, Illinois to Geneva, Switzerland.

-Steve Bergman

[NelielTuOderswank]

@sbergman27 So the US having landed every successful Mars lander makes me a US supremacist. No, it makes you butthurt.

[sbergman27]

@NelielTuOderswank It's your obsession with it that reveals your tiresome chauvinism. I'm quite pleased with most every successful space science mission ever conducted by ESA, FKA, JAXA, NASA or anyone else, either alone or jointly. From Venera to Herschel. They are complementary, after all. e.g. Planck is about to turn the crayon drawing WMAP scribbled into a precision work of art, complete with decent polarization measurements. You also seem rather focused upon the anus. What's up with that?

[NelielTuOderswank]

@sbergman27 Butthurt.

[sbergman27]

@NelielTuOderswank Your eloquence moves me to tears.

Out of curiosity... what *do* you think about Europe overtaking us in particle physics and the study of the crucially significant CMB? I wasn't kidding about the migration of particle physicists from Illinois to Europe. They could easily have been moving to Texas to study particle collisions at 50% higher energies than at LHC, had the US had cared enough to fund SSC to completion. Surely you have some thoughts on that.

[NelielTuOderswank]

@sbergman27 You sir, are butthurt.

[sbergman27]

@NelielTuOderswank Looking over your posting history, it looks as though you are capable of making reasonably high quality comments. What's the problem? Is this a drinking day for you? I'd still be interested in a constructive response to more or less anything at all that we've "discussed".

Now, I'm going to make the obvious prediction (which anyone might make) regarding how you are likely to respond. And you can either show my prediction to be correct... or incorrect.

[ghodium]

is it left hand drive and what if some martian nicks it

[hukt0nf0nikz]

yeahaahahahah fuck yeahaa!!!!!!!!!

[lidul]

i love it, cant wait to see it a reality!

[1Nekit1]

Add some SHOTGUNS on it.. or some "Aliens" will RAPE it... LOL

[MsBobBlob]

Has anyone asked the question, where's the solar panels? Hmm... what do you think is powering this... Spirit/Opportunity knock-off? Can you say 50% chance of not crash landing? Nothing says "I Come In Peace" like a nuclear waste (I'm sorry, that's no politically). Nothing says "I Come In Peace" like depleted uranium.

[dischordia23]

@MsBobBlob "Nothing says "I Come In Peace" like depleted uranium" It's not depleted, and its not Uranium. But we've used power sources like this before--Pioneer, Viking(s), Voyager(s), Galileo, Cassini, New Horizons etc. with pretty good results.

[KOMRAD8]

система слишком сложная

[meteor4163]

@KOMRAD8 А эта?

watch?v=Ij33yhdGn_g&feature=re­lated

[aval1998]

go nasa! :D

[Australian123Gamer]

didn't know they planned another mars mission

[lidul]

Wow looks pretty impressive! I love the idea of turning the rover into a spider before setting it onto the ground lol.

[indosurfer210]

Oh....O.K., thanks for the schoolin' :)

[indosurfer210]

Why such an elaborate landing system??? Just parachute the thing in, jeesh....engineers

[DrPepperboy86]

hmm, let me see. MSL weighs about 1 Ton, so you're gonna need a MASSIVE parachute to land that sucker. Especially considering the atmosphere is about 3000x LESS DENSE from our own atmosphere. This is why only a supersonic parachute is used, and rockets are used to come to a stop before we hit the ground.

Check out the MER EDL. Same thing except for the bags. Bouncing bags could be used, but they'd have to be MUCH bigger considering MSL is about 5x heavier than MER. Remember MSL = Mini Cooper

[NelielTuOderswank]

@indosurfer210 You cant just use a parachute, Mars's atmosphere is only 1% as thick as Earths. A parachute would barely slow it to mach 0.2

[vk3ukf]

Does anyone know if the dropship is useful after rover delivery?

Does it take images?

Does it fly away and land softly somewhere?

Does it just clear the area and do a nosedive and provide space craft wreckage to identify, maybe helping in looking for other lost spacecraft.

[doctrui]

@vk3ukf 3rd option is the correct

[CamiloSanchez1979]

where did the top part go? This rover is kind of fugly.

[butlerball1350]

if the world ends lol this craft is all that will remain of earth as we know it lmfao.

[kimae247]

24/7 rover!

[Boy75402]

@kimae247

No. RTG =/= unlimited power.

The RTG charges a battery from which MSL draws power. MSL draws power from the battery faster than the RTG can replace it. MSL must recharge over night.

[dveltmands]

the plutonium does get rid of the risk of dying in a dust storm because dust gets on a solar panel, but there is a limited amount that we can bring up there. Therefore, the rover will eventually have to die no matter what. Also, I think the phoenix lander was a waste of time and money, but this looks prospective. it might just help us find traces of life.

[JLAJC1]

this rover is nuclear powered and the descent mechanism is a proven design. Pheonix used it a few years ago, but not on this large of a scale. The decent mechanism has 6 redundant gyros. I hope they all work.

[Pieter345]

what? no solar panels?

[nanus9273]

whats the name of the song

and good luck for that rover

[blackcube1]

Good luck!

[jeremak]

RTG generator, like Vikings

[zezima48]

wheres the solar panels on that car where is it getting its power from?

[grahamnation]

shes radioactive- decaying amounts of plutonium to provide heat or something similarly radioactive. called a radioisotope thermoelectric generator

[bartollium]

there a way to download this video?

[2macbros]

They pushed the launch back to 2011, and it will land in 2012

[sainthutch]

you are all stupid geeks! think 1+6=cheeze!

[lighthog]

It looks worrisomely complicated. So much to go wrong. And NASA is only sending one this time. Hope we haven't gotten arrogant...

[viathor]

Wonderful! Keep up the good work, USA :-)

[ichirootaniguchi]

america wouldn't have this technology if japan didn't have it first..............

[HAL11000]

Japan has no involvement with this rover.

[Bagu00]

what a kick ass video. awesome if they can land this sucker.

[Bagu00]

someone needs to remix this with Holst's "Mars, Bringer of War"

[HalfCockedMD]

I can understand why they want to soft-land a large heavy rover, instead of the airbag approach.

But, someone please explain why they don't just soft-land a pallet with a ramp for the rover to roll down, or rigidly couple the rover underneath the "skycrane" and have it detach and fly off after touchdown.

It seems to me that lowering the rover on cables adds an unnecessary level of mechanical complexity, and introduces the risk of possible oscillations, especially if there are high winds.

[emu5088]

Yeah i agree with you. The only reason i can think of why they would lower it down like that is so they don't contaminate the nearby soil with the jets. But they don't contaminate it much, and it's a rover... it can just drive away from the site. Beats me. =\

[Boy75402]

Softlanding a pallet would be hard to do. MSL weighs a lot, and would cause issues. Rigidly coupling the rover to the skycrane and detach after touchdown gives more room for error. The skycrane may slam MSL into Mars.

With a skycrane like this, you have a large vertical margin of error, and once you're on Mars, you don't have to drive off the pallet or anything like that. You're on Mars right after landing.

The skycrane is very convenient, albeit risky. Would be great to see it succeed.

[emu5088]

The reason they didn't use airbags with Phoenix and wont use it with MSL is because the crafts are just simply too large and heavy for that kind of landing to be done safely with minimal costs. Powered landings are better in these cases.

[dunberacist]

rofl, NASA's getting more and more ballsy with each launch. If one of those retrorockets fail, the vehicle will end up doing cartwheels in midair and smash into the marsian surface like an egg.

[robm1969]

Looks like they did away with the bouncing

stuff, I just hope spirit and opportunity last 'till this Science Laboratory gets there.

I suggest people interested in this topic

do a little more research before making

ridiculous UFO and US top secret claims.

[Rocky1990]

is this a joke? This is hilarious. we already have tons of stuff there and we have been going there since '62 with UFOs. Yes you heard it.

And by the way Mars sky isn't brown, that was a scam.

[vk3ukf]

A wonderful dream, I can't wait for reality.

[jkmcjm]

@vk3ukf I wonder why the preceding JUNO Mission is not featured... I'd love to see the trailer on JUNO and maybe the MMS mission out in 2014. That would compliment out the rest of the NASA Atlas missions, short only of the TDRS Launches. Thanks, I'm new to U-Tube so forgive any errors in posting, etc... until I get a feel for it (if I find the time). ...........

jkm

[rigurat]

looks like an expensive way to get to mars. similar to the Viking program. they've done away with the Pathfinder and MER landing system with the airbags.

[pikeal]

what is this music?

[djbarney24]

The way the MSL rover whips out of that entry shell, I found very funny for some reason.

That landing rig is just like a mini version of some Gerry Anderson technology. Didn't the Mysterons come from Mars ?

F. A. B.

DJ Barney

[Harlan879]

Wow, cool. It'll be a bleedin' miracle if it works...!

[HAL11000]

I hear the rover is the size of a mini cooper.

[Matos36]

My question is where I can find this video to download?

[Wowbagger06]

This doesn't have "top secret" nor even gov't "secret" classification - it's the same kind of NASA simulation every recent space mission has had. Very, very cool though, and keep in mind this rover will be ~1700 lb. and the size of a compact car - but I agree the music is supremely cheesy. I'd have used Hellborg/Lane/Baker's "Abstract Logic" or "Where's My Thing" by Rush, but I suppose then you'd have to pay royalties...

[sumnerd]

Although not "top secret", this video has not been approved for release to the public, probably because the design for MSL has not been finalized. It also isn't a "simulation", but rather an animation based on an artist's conception.

[BigDAS]

NASA is a civil agency, not a governenment nor military one.

[beerslurpy]

NASA is a part of the government. Being non-military does not mean non-governmental.

[pesoliv]

Nice to see top secret US technology simulations showing up on youtube.

[madcio]

You are not very bright person, aren't you? This is martian rover doing science, not some recon satellite. And this is artist rendering, not any kind of "simulation".

[Peter7777t]

Are you kidding, I love the music! I just hope they don't screw up the rocket thrust and tether portion of the landing sequence, that looks pretty complicated.

[frbe0101]

I like the animation and soundeffects but the music sucks. I would also be nice if they covered launch, cruise and entry phase.

[melfik]

wow, really amazing !