This video/animation of the launch-through-landing of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), aka Curiosity, was initially produced in 2011, long before the successful landing of Curiosity on Mars. Except for the juvenile need to include sounds where no sound could carry (i.e., outside the two planets’ atmosphers), this is exceedingly well done, and worth about five minutes of your time. The …
Sometimes, It All Just Works
As of this writing, the successful landing of the Mars Science Laboratory (aka Curiosity) is old news, but the technology that allowed it to happen and also allowed me to partake of the excitement is what I wish to address today. The night of the landing, I was exhausted—so much so that I just couldn’t get my act together enough …
New Heavy-launch System: What Will We Use It For?
After too much time, effort, and political wrangling, Charles Bolden, the NASA administrator, has announced to the world the design for a new heavy-lift Space Launch System. Nominally designed to take over the Space Shuttle’s duties with respect to servicing the International Space Station, it is also being touted as our ride into the next chapters in the U.S.’s (and, …