Simulation of the Mars Science Laboratory Sky Crane

An anonymous reader points us to Gizmodo for a fascinating video of NASA's Sky Crane. "When I read that the UFO-looking Mars Science Laboratory's aeroshell would use a floating crane — called Sky Crane by NASA — to softly land the rover on Mars, I couldn't believe it. Now, watching this hyper-realistic NASA simulation, I still can't believe how the whole thing works. I don't know about you, but the whole operation mesmerizes me to no end."

Comments

Its easy to forget how Big MSL is.

[mcwiggin]

The reason why airbags won't work is because the MSL Rover is about the same size as a large car. It amazing to think something this large will be traveling around mars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mars_Science_Laboratory_empty_chassis.jpg Image of MSL under construction.