Curiosity Rover Attempts Mars Landing

Dave Iverson

Aug 3, 2012 at

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(ROBYN BECK/AFP/GettyImages)

Following in the footsteps of its older siblings, Spirit and Opportunity, the Mars Curiosity rover is scheduled to land on the red planet Sunday. Sporting six wheels and carrying ten science instruments, the one-ton rover will seek to answer the perennial question about Mars: whether Earth’s neighbor is, or ever was, able to support life. We’ll discuss what’s at stake for Curiosity, the heart of NASA’s $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory mission.

More: Crazy Smart: When A Rocker Designs A Mars Lander – NPR profile of Adam Steltzner
More: Mars Rover Heads for Nerve-Racking Touchdown (News Fix)
More: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory – Resources on how to watch the landing and background on the mission
More: A Guide to NASA’s Mars Mission Lingo
More: A Listing of Mars Landing Events in California – Including events at Chabot,the Exploratorium and Ames Research Center.

Guests:

G. Scott Hubbard, professor in the department of aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University, former director of the NASA Ames Research Center and author of the new book "Exploring Mars: Chronicles from a Decade of Discovery"

David Morrison, director of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe at the SETI Institute and a senior scientist at the NASA Lunar Science Institute

Adam Steltzner, phase lead, entry decent and landing phase for the Mars Science Laboratory Mission at NASA

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