Mars Science Laboratory represents the first use of a "soft-landing" technique employed at Mars. The sheer mass of Mars Science Laboratory prevents engineers from using the familiar airbags to deliver their rover safely to the martian surface. As rovers become more capable and carry more instruments, they become larger. So, in order to accommodate this advanced mission, engineers designed a sky-crane method that will lower the rover to the surface. The Mars science lab mission landing will be in 3.5 days. (5:31 am UTC August 6, 2012).
CNET - Tipping the scales at one ton, the nuclear-powered Curiosity, a rolling laboratory equipped with a suite of state-of-the-art cameras and instruments, is too massive to use airbags like the ones that cushioned the landings of NASA's much smaller Pathfinder and the hugely successful Spirit and Opportunity rovers.
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