Mars Science Laboratory Mission Animation (Full Version) [720p]

Although NASA's Mars Science Laboratory will not leave Earth until late this year nor land on Mars until August 2012, anyone can watch those dramatic events now in a new animation of the mission.

The full, 11-minute animation, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPMR7c4wPcA , shows sequences such as the spacecraft separating from its launch vehicle near Earth and the mission's rover, Curiosity, zapping rocks with a laser and examining samples of powdered rock on Mars. A shorter, narrated version is also available, at http://youtube.com/watch?v=l7Gf9QgCqHI .

Curiosity's landing will use a different method than any previous Mars landing, with the rover suspended on tethers from a rocket-backpack "sky crane."

The new animation combines detailed views of the spacecraft with scenes of real places on Mars, based on stereo images taken by earlier missions.

"It is a treat for the 2,000 or more people who have worked on the Mars Science Laboratory during the past eight years to watch these action scenes of the hardware the project has developed and assembled," said Mars Science Laboratory Project Manager Pete Theisinger at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The animation also provides an exciting view of this mission for any fan of adventure and exploration."

JPL manages the Mars Science Laboratory project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The rover and other parts of the spacecraft have been delivered to NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch during the period of Nov. 25 to Dec. 18, 2011. In August 2012, Curiosity will land on Mars for a two-year mission to examine whether conditions in the landing area have been favorable for microbial life and for preserving evidence about whether life has existed there. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.

For more information about the Mars Science Laboratory, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .

credit: NASA / JPL

source: http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/videos/

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Curiosity rover
• Mars rover
• Mars exploration
• JPL

[diminatadeazi]

U left the rover behind....No one is left behind...poor rover alone on mars...

[soapy05]

7:57 Die Martians, DIE!

[Caiorodrigomendes]

fgscdgyerb fjkvnduhvdfcvefntbnvy8wegtgvtc­hnuhygvbte4jorf entendeu alguma coisa porra???????

[CaptainBluebear08]

AS IF there's sound in the void of universe...

silly, silly little kids.

[steak96SAUCE]

It would be funny it Curiosity dies before Opportunity

[ngoctamtl]

like manh

[LancairPropJet]

This is not about killing Martians!  It's about enslaving them and forcing them to do our bidding.

[LancairPropJet]

the sky crane appears to have backup rocket motors. Nice idea.

[thenendo]

Man, such a complicated landing.

[berzu21]

why cant they sent buggati veyron with bigger wheels to Mars?

[JonathanNeufeld]

@ymirfrostgiant Many points of failure, if anything by now JPL takes Murphy's Law as the rule and they are very careful about making assumptions. Preferably avoid it altogether.

[ymirfrostgiant]

That is one ballsy touchdown.

You would think so many things could go wrong.