I was astonished at the complex landing procedures the Mars explorer, Curiosity, needed to go through to land as explained on the tv news over the weekend. The way it approached Mars at an incredible speed needing to slow down, parachute, fire rockets and hover to then lower the rover by 'crane'. It just seemed immensely complicated at such a range with a mass of things that could go wrong....
Yet - it has done it, a massive success for American engineering and ingenuity.
The rover is nuclear powered and is designed to explore the surface for a year but could do so for 10 years...
I wonder what will be found....
story here.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dc39d84c-df8e-11e1-b81c-00144feab49a.html#axzz22lNHmzEB