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7 Minutes of Terror: The Challenges of Getting to Mars

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory · documentary · Watch on YouTube

Space exploration & spaceflightRobotics

What it is

NASA JPL engineers explain the final minutes of the Curiosity rover's entry, descent and landing on Mars, which combined aerobraking, a parachute and a skycrane. It lays out the tight sequence of events that all had to work automatically.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN repeatedly recommends it as an awe-inspiring example of engineering problem solving and the go-to explainer on how Mars landings work.

  • 5 people recommended it
  • 4 different months
  • 2 strong recommendations
  • first 2016, last 2021

What HN commenters said

  1. “I get goosebumps every time I watch this, absolutely amazing problem solving.”

    NASA explains how Curiosity was to land safely on Mars

    nicholasjon, 2016-10 · Strong recommendation · in “Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter views Schiaparelli landing site”

  2. “If you have not watched the seven minutes of terror video produced by NASA, you absolutely must.”

    Details exactly how machines are put on the surface of Mars

    underseacables, 2021-02 · Strong recommendation · in “Mars landing: Photo shows Perseverance rover during landing”

  3. “I highly recommend watching this video from JPL to give you an understanding of where such tools excel.”

    Shows JPL simulating, iterating and autogenerating code for complex systems

    radiorental, 2019-01 · Recommendation · in “Visual Programming Doesn’t Suck”

  4. “Curiosity used aerobraking, parachutes AND a skycrane to land.”

    Explains Curiosity's combined aerobraking, parachute and skycrane landing

    DuskStar, 2019-10 · Recommendation · in “The SpaceX Starship is a big deal”

  5. “It goes into detail on everything you see in the articles landing video”

    Detailed walkthrough of the Curiosity landing procedure

    overlordalex, 2021-02 · Recommendation · in “NASA's Perseverance rover will attempt to land on Mars this week”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: curiosity rover, skycrane, entry descent landing, nasa jpl, space engineering

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