For NASA's Curiosity Mars rover to arrive undamaged on the surface of the Red Planet, a lot of things will have to go right. <\/p>\n
So far, the scorecard for missions toMarsreads attempts 40, successes 14. <\/p>\n
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Not so good. <\/p>\n
Well over 60 percent of Earth missions toMarshave failed, ever since the pioneering efforts of the former Soviet Union in the 1960s and including Britain's high-profile Beagle 2 space probe. <\/p>\n
As NASA's latest mission toMarsheads closer to the Red Planet, the head of NASA'sMarsExploration Program, Doug McCuistion, acknowledged Tuesday that many things could still go wrong before its scheduled Aug. 6 landing date. <\/p>\n
The one thing that worries him most is if the spacecraft's heat shield will detach as planned when the U.S.MarsScience Laboratory mission sets down a large, mobile laboratory onMars the roverCuriosity. <\/p>\n
\"If you look at the scorecard, Earth is doing less than 50 percent; less than 50 percent of Earth's missions toMarshave been successful,\" McCuistion, a former U.S. fighter pilot, said at the Farnborough Airshow south of London. <\/p>\n
In the seven minutes before its planned touchdown, the U.S. spacecraft has a number of tasks it has to complete forCuriosity to make a safe landing. First it must get rid of the heat shield and avoid a subsequent collision with it. Then it has to slow its descent to the Red Planet with the aid of a massive parachute as well as use rockets mounted around the rim of an upper stage. In the final seconds, the upper stage of the spacecraft acts as a sky crane, lowering the upright rover on a tether to the surface. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Will NASA's Mars rover crash?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For NASA's Curiosity Mars rover to arrive undamaged on the surface of the Red Planet, a lot of things will have to go right. So far, the scorecard for missions toMarsreads attempts 40, successes 14. Continue reading