GREENBELT, Md., July 20 (UPI) -- NASA, which has put three rovers on Mars since 1996's Mars Pathfinder, says it intends the Aug. 6 landing of its Curiosity rover to be the most precise yet.
The 7-minute descent of Curiosity, the heaviest rover ever, will involve a 12,000-mph plunge through the Martian atmosphere creating temperatures on its heat shield of 3,800 degrees, and end with a rocket-powered "sky crane" lowering the 1-ton rover inside Gale Crater on Mars.