Perseverance landing on Mars

[hamster_nz]

Might take Fri 18th Feb off to watch NASA TV.

https://youtu.be/tITni_HY1Bk

[Ed.Kloonk]

The short video makes the landing look easy.

[cdev]

There is a lot that could go wrong.

[hamster_nz]

There is a lot that could go wrong.

But it's not exactly brain surgery...

https://youtu.be/THNPmhBl-8I

[BravoV]

Another great moment, can't wait to hear this happen, hope it lands safely.

[Brumby]

There is a lot that could go wrong.

The process worked fine the first time they tried it.

[cdev]

Yes, and hopefully this one will be as successful too.

Still, when a mission is so far away, if something fails, it may be unfixable.

We may never (or at least not for a while) know what happened if something fails.

Look at what happened to the Indian Vikram lunar lander not very long ago.

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2019/vikram-lander-found

We're lucky that unlike the Moon, Mars has some atmosphere to use in slowing the descent.

This video is pretty neat

[hamster_nz]

Too many hours playing Kerbal Space Program has greatly increased my appreciation of watching the telemetry screens. You get a good feel for when the physics of a situation looks bad....

[floobydust]

Mar Perseverance Rover ready for landing in about 1hr 48mins

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/status/

[GlennSprigg]

I loved the way the final jet-propulsion 'descender' module releases the final payload!!
It then takes off vertically, (less weight), but to where ??

[MikeK]

I loved the way the final jet-propulsion 'descender' module releases the final payload!!
It then takes off vertically, (less weight), but to where ??

It takes off at an angle, to avoid burning the rover.  I think they said it's designed to just go north.

[VK3DRB]

Great technology. Superb engineering. But it is highly improbable they will find any evidence of alien lifeforms from the past. As for trying to create an environment that will support human habitation, there is no Planet B. Planet A is slowly being destroyed by a parasite. Hopefully good management, good education, and cohesive government can control the parasite so Planet A can become healthy again.

[cdev]

We're not parasites, we're just an adolescent race thats going though its difficult years, and hopefully we survive them in one piece and go on to our maturity and the stars.

Maybe this will cheer us all up.

While surfing the Magic Lantern web site (https://www.magiclantern.fm/) a few days ago, I came across this real gem of a short video which was one of the winners of a video contest NASA held a few years ago to explain project MARS). It was so good it made me cry like a baby. Now this is a perfect blending of art and science.

https://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=24858.0  Also http://vimeo.com/mariuskrivicius

[jonovid]

 maybe better to return to the Moon to live in a lunar hotel biosphere then any one way maned ticket to a tomb on Mars

[Psi]

While surfing the Magic Lantern web site a few days ago, I came across this real gem of a short video which was one of the winners of a video contest NASA held a few years ago to explain project MARS). https://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=24858.0