Nasa's new Martian rover is expected to land on mars on August 6, 2012 05:36 UTC (01:31Philippine time).
MSL left earth last November 26 2011 using the Atlas V rocket. And after 8 months of journey, it finally approches Mars.
as of june 24, MSL has travelled 488739 miles. here is a simulation of the exact location of MSL
MSL will only spend 7 minutes after its entry to the martian atmosphere to reduce it super sonic speed to zero to have a safety landing on the Gale Crater. Here is a picture iof the landing plan of MSL.
During those 7 minutes of terror, the scientist and developers has no control of the spacecraft because signals from MSL will take 14 minutes to reach Earth so the Vehicle has already landed long before there receive the signal of Atmosphere Entry. The only hope for MSL to succeed is, to have its automated landing sequence to perform accurately.
MSL is the only Martian rover to use a rocket propeller to land on Mars. The previous missions used inflatable ballons to help the land on the Martian Surface. MSL will study the gale crater and will look for signs of microbial life and it will also study the probability of sending humans on Mars.
you can watch the live telecast of the MSL landing at http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv on August 6 05:36 UTC or 01:24pm Philippine time.
For more information visit http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/
here is an animation of MSL's mission
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