AS101 Study Guide - Final Guide: Airbag, Solar Wind, Permafrost
Document Summary
Planning for the mars science laboratory (msl) began in the early 2000s. Msl was launched from cape canaveral in november 2011 and successfully landed on mars on august 6, 2012. Artist"s concept of curiosity being lowered by the sky crane from the rocket-powered descent stage. The edl (entry, descent and landing) aspect of the mission was dubbed the seven minutes of terror because of the time needed to land safely the car-sized. Curiosity (msl) as it plummeted through mars" thin atmosphere from a speed of 21,200 km/hour at the top of the atmosphere to 0 km/hour at the surface. Mars" atmosphere is 1/100th as dense as on earth which, in turn, is 90 less dense as on venus (just a little review); this shows the broad range of atmospheres on earth and its neighbouring planets. Instead a sky crane designed with retrorockets, nylon tethers and a temporary electrical cable was employed.
