In my opinion this is a far more exciting countdown than the Olympics; in 40 days, NASA’s nuclear powered Curiosity rover will enter the Martian atmosphere, and the landing is the most nerve-racking part for the engineers.

We reported a little while ago how a Dutch team are planning a reality show on Mars. That will feel like an even crazier idea after watching this video by NASA on the difficulty of the landing. I think it is summed up well by engineer Tim Rivellin:

We’ve got literally seven minutes to get from the top of the atmosphere to the surface of Mars, going from 13,000 miles an hour to zero in perfect sequence, perfect choreography, perfect timing.

The rover will be lowered onto the planet using a rocket-powered sky-crane, after the whole package has been slowed down by the largest supersonic parachute ever. A freaking rocket powered sky-crane! Sure, why not. But the best bit is that Mars is so far away it takes 14 minutes for any data to get back to the control room, so from the time earth gets word that Curiosity has entered the atmosphere of Mars, it will have already been on the surface – in one piece or many – for seven minutes.

Curiosity will be searching Mars for any sign that the planet is, was or could be supporting life, and is due to land on the Red Planet at 15h31 GMT on 5 August.

[Source: The Register]