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<\/div>This spring, engineers are testing a radar system that will serve during the next landing on Mars. <\/span><\/p> Recent tests included some near Lancaster, Calif., against a backdrop of blooming California poppy fields. In those tests, a helicopter carried an engineering test model of the landing radar for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory<\/span> on prescribed descent paths. The descents at different angles and from different heights simulated paths associated with specific candidate sites for the mission<\/span>. <\/span><\/p> The Mars Science Laboratory mission<\/span>, managed by NASA<\/a>'s Jet Propulsion Laboratory<\/span>, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA<\/span>, is in its assembly and testing phase, in advance of a launch in autumn 2011 and delivery of a rover named Curiosity to Mars in summer 2012. <\/span><\/p> During the final stage of the spacecraft's arrival at Mars in 2012, a rocket-powered descent stage will lower the rover on a tether directly to the ground. This rover is too big for the airbag-cushioned landing method used by NASA's Mars Pathfinder mission<\/span> in 1997 and Mars Exploration Rover landings in 2004. <\/span><\/p> At Mars<\/span>, a radar on the descent stage will track the spacecraft's decreasing distance from the surface. Additional helicopter-flown testing of the mission's radar system will include checks of whether the suspended rover might confuse the radar about the speed of descent toward the ground. <\/span><\/p> Wolfe Air Aviation, of Pasadena, Calif., is providing the helicopter and flight services for the testing by a team of JPL engineers<\/span>. The engineering test radar is affixed to a gimbal mounting at the front of the helicopter, which is more often used for aerial photography. <\/span><\/p> View my blog's last three great articles...<\/span><\/p> View this site auto transport<\/a> car shipping<\/a> car transport<\/a> business VoIP<\/a> business class flights<\/a><\/span><\/p> This spring, engineers are testing a radar system that will serve during the next landing on Mars. Recent tests included some near Lancaster, Calif., against a backdrop of blooming California poppy fields. In those tests, a helicopter carried an engineering … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-o-matic\/cache\/2be35_1205796008215741128-4352925337871632900?l=spacestation-shuttle.blogspot.com\")