NASA's Curiosity rover has transmitted a low-resolution video showing the last 2 1\/2 minutes of its white-knuckle dive through the Mars atmosphere, giving Earthlings a sneak peek of a spacecraft landing on another world. <\/p>\n
As thumbnails of the video flashed on a big screen on Monday, scientists and engineers at the NASA Jet Propulsion let out \"oohs\" and \"aahs\". <\/p>\n
The recording began with the protective heat shield falling away and ended with dust being kicked up as the rover was lowered by cables inside an ancient crater. <\/p>\n
It was a sneak preview since it'll take some time before full-resolution frames are beamed back depending on other priorities. <\/p>\n
The full video \"will just be exquisite\", said Michael Malin, the chief scientist of the instrument. <\/p>\n
NASA celebrated the precision landing of a rover on Mars and marvelled over the mission's flurry of photographs - grainy, black-and-white images of Martian gravel, a mountain at sunset and, most exciting of all, the spacecraft's white-knuckle plunge through the red planet's atmosphere. <\/p>\n
Curiosity, a roving laboratory the size of a compact car, landed right on target late on Sunday night after an eight-month, 566-million kilometre journey. <\/p>\n
It parked its six wheels about 6 1\/2 kilometres from its ultimate science destination - Mount Sharp rising from the floor of Gale Crater near the equator. <\/p>\n
Extraordinary efforts were needed for the landing because the rover weighs one tonne, and the thin Martian atmosphere offers little friction to slow down a spacecraft. <\/p>\n
Curiosity had to go from 20,920km\/h to zero in seven minutes, unfurling a parachute, then firing rockets to brake. In a Hollywood-style finish, cables delicately lowered it to the ground at 3.2km\/h. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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NASA releases video of Mars rover descent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA's Curiosity rover has transmitted a low-resolution video showing the last 2 1\/2 minutes of its white-knuckle dive through the Mars atmosphere, giving Earthlings a sneak peek of a spacecraft landing on another world. As thumbnails of the video flashed on a big screen on Monday, scientists and engineers at the NASA Jet Propulsion let out \"oohs\" and \"aahs\". Continue reading