NASA's Mars rover may not phone home right away | Reuters
Aug 5 (Reuters) - NASA cheekily calls the Mars Science Lab's risky approach and landing attempt the "seven minutes of terror." In reality, the anxiety at mission control could last much longer.
The robotic lander dubbed Curiosity, a $2.5 billion mission to search for life-friendly habitats on the Red Planet, was on autopilot for touchdown at 10:31 p.m. PDT Sunday (1:31 a.m. EDT Monday/0531 GMT).
If all goes as planned, NASA will heave a big sigh of relief immediately. But word of whether Curiosity survives may not come for hours.
Because Earth sets over the Martian horizon minutes before Curiosity is due to land, direct communication with the lander will be cut off. Scientists tracking the craft from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California will depend on three other spacecraft in orbit around Mars to transmit information about the rover's fate.
The robotic lander dubbed Curiosity, a $2.5 billion mission to search for life-friendly habitats on the Red Planet, was on autopilot for touchdown at 10:31 p.m. PDT Sunday (1:31 a.m. EDT Monday/0531 GMT).
If all goes as planned, NASA will heave a big sigh of relief immediately. But word of whether Curiosity survives may not come for hours.
Because Earth sets over the Martian horizon minutes before Curiosity is due to land, direct communication with the lander will be cut off. Scientists tracking the craft from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California will depend on three other spacecraft in orbit around Mars to transmit information about the rover's fate.
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