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jjjnettie
26-11-2011, 10:14 AM
Tick tick tick
At time of posting, only 15hrs and 48 minutes to go. :)

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html
CraigS
26-11-2011, 11:02 AM
I'm really hangin' for this one to succeed !

I want answers about Mars habitability !

This thing is designed to cover a lot more ground than all the others .. it has more sensitive lab equipment onboard … it has a more usable nuclear power supply, (none of this solar power nonsense) … and it is probing a question which can take the overall program much further than any of the others, in the long run.

I'm a bit concerned about the complexity of the landing stages though … being lowered from a rocket powered platform, (etc). I think that'll be the biggest hurdle ... and we won't know about this bit until August next year ... the initial launch doesn't sound like too much of a risk (unlike for Phobos-Grunt) !

Fingers crossed … 2am tomorrow for the Eastern Standard Daylight timers !

Cheers
astroron
26-11-2011, 11:05 AM
Bookmarked, Time for launch is 01.00 AST,02.00 AEST tomorrow morning .or daylight saving time if you prefare ;)
Cheers:thumbsup:
SkyViking
26-11-2011, 05:02 PM
Thanks for the link jjj, I've been looking forward to this mission for years now. Hopefully it all goes well! There are so many new concepts - skycrane etc etc... That landing is going to be amazing.
jjjnettie
26-11-2011, 05:42 PM
The landing procedure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KLxmGLZQSY
allan gould
26-11-2011, 07:31 PM
A must watch video http://www.airspacemag.com/video/Curiositys-Voyage.html
Spectacular!!!!!
jjjnettie
26-11-2011, 11:43 PM
2hrs and 18min to go!!
jjjnettie
27-11-2011, 01:47 AM
5 minutes to go!!
CraigS
27-11-2011, 08:34 AM
That's great news ! …
Looks like we've got goer in so far as getting there !

Let's hope the descent stage goes as smoothly !

Looking forward to much/many scientific returns once at Gale crater, incidentally named after an Australian/Sydney-sider (eastern suburbs - Paddington), Amateur Astronomer/Banker called Walter Frederick Gale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Frederick_Gale), (for those interested).

Cheers
PS: Here's another interesting snippet … it appears that the radioisotope thermoelectric generator aboard Curiosity is made entirely with Russian Plutonium !