New Mars rover launch 2011 (Curiosity, YouTube, eta August 2012))

[marcus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BudlaGh1A0o

Beautiful animation.

Landing system is novel and elegant. Hovering rocket platform lowers the vehicle on a cable to the the ground and then goes away.

A lot of the deceleration work at Mars is done by the planet's atmosphere, saving fuel weight.

Great stuff. Launch of "Curiosity" is supposed to happen later this year.

[Ryan_m_b]

Bloody hell that's absolutely amazing!

[Integral]

Elegant, maybe, complex most certainly. Lots to go wrong with this landing system. Considering the ill luck that we have had with Mars missions this seems pretty ambitious. I hope that all goes well. It would be great to have a new rover on the surface of Mars.

[marcus]

Elegant, maybe, complex most certainly. Lots to go wrong ...

That's certainly true! A lot of elements that could go wrong. Several bold innovations that have probably never been tried before in Mars gravity.

Reminds me a little of old issues of Mission Impossible where the elite team uses hi-tech tools to sneak in thru the ventilator system of the headquarters of the foreign dictator. Suspense. So MANY things could go wrong. The calm courage of the team. Absolute level-headed confidence. You could call it "techno-drama". What anguish if it fails. What a triumph if it succeeds.

I want people to go to Ceres, not Mars. But the landing of the "Curiosity" rover on Mars, win or lose, is worth the price of admission in my book.

Ryan's comment captures the feeling.