At 10:31 PDT on August 5th the latest unmanned rover, Curiosity, will land in Gale Crater on Mars after a nine-month voyage to the Red Planet. Following a harrowing, complicated seven minute ride to the surface (Google the NASA video "Seven Minutes of Hell", Curiosity will join a family of other rovers that are investigating Mars for the possibility of life on the planet, past and present. What makes Gale, a crater more than ninety miles across and has a central peak three miles high, interesting is that there are vast areas within the crater in which it appears that sub-layers have been exposed by wind and probably water at some time. This vehicle, the size of a car, is a hardy device that is hoped will be successful in traversing and some rugged and chaotic terrain while carrying out many scientific experiments and procedures.
I have always been fascinated by space; I can recall the later Mercury manned flights (Scott Carpenter and Gordon Cooper) and nearly all of the Gemini program flights. I followed all of the Apollo missions and the later unmanned flights to Mars and beyond. As a kid I would look up at the stars at night and wonder who was doing the same thing around all those countless stars. So with that said you know where to find me on Sunday night - online and viewing the video NASA will stream. I for one wish that "Seven Minutes of Hell" turns into a joyous celebration when Curiosity sends back that much awaited signal - "I'm OK!", or whatever the signal is that NASA is expecting!
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