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Guest Marney-1

Curiosity on Mars

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Guest Marney-1

rover_2300144b.jpg

The crucial stage of the £1.6bn mission comes in the minutes before 6.30am (GMT) on Monday, when the probe streaks into the Martian atmosphere at 13,000mph and begins an intricate set of manoeuvres designed to drop its cargo onto the surface of the planet with no more than a gentle bump.

But the rover's chance of surviving the unprecedentedly complex landing – dubbed "seven minutes of terror" – has been boosted after mission engineers announced its parent craft remains exactly on target to hit its designated landing site.

To land in the correct spot, the probe must pass through a window of Mars's upper atmosphere measuring just 3km by 12km, requiring an accuracy scientists have compared to hitting a golf ball from Los Angeles to Scotland and scoring a hole-in-one.

Doug McCuistion, head of the Mars Exploration Program, said on Sunday: “It is a pretty incredible feat – what we are about to attempt may not be successful.

“If we are successful getting to the ground and with information coming back [to Earth], we are going to have the opportunity for untold discoveries.” - Full article here.

Follow the final stages live here.

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I can't wait to hear what happens, am sure it'll be successful. I'm waiting for the New Horizons probe to get to Pluto. That'll be something. I'm also waiting to see what they get for samples on this rover. If they find life, there is a huge chance it proves the theory that life may have come from Mars ( debres from mars carrying bacteria from a asteroid impact or such)

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I was thinking about going to Times Square to watch the live stream but I don't think it'll be worth it. Not like they are going to show anything amazing. It'll be a bunch of NASA people standing around and then cheering. I doubt any surface images will be broadcast for a bit since they have to do a thousand checks to make sure everything is working.

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It has its own Twitter account?

"Hey yall just taking a dump... on Mars lololol!!"

MAJOR UPDATE! Breaking news from the surface of Mars:

luisfound.jpg

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Guest Marney-1

That is one sun short of a Tattooine sunrise.

Exactly what I thought when I first saw it. Also...

7744355182_1f4c11b2c3_o.jpg

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