(Publicado por New Scientist)
A NASA rover called Spirit made a perfect landing in an ancient lakebed on Mars early on Sunday morning, after a suspenseful entry sequence that worked far beyond anyone’s expectations.
Elated scientists and engineers repeatedly erupted into cheers, jumped in the air and gave each other hugs at the mission control centre at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Mars rover mission’s chief scientist, Steven Squyres of Cornell University, said: “In none of our rehearsals did it go this well.”
The airbag-protected lander continued to transmit data almost without interruption throughout an entry and landing sequence the mission team had dubbed “six minutes from hell”. Furthermore, the four-sided craft even landed with its base-side down, greatly simplifying the process of unfolding its petals to release the golf-cart-sized roving robot.
Continue reading “Rover makes perfect touchdown on Mars”
My so called life* 