This Is What A Mission To Mars Actually Looks Like

I’ve heard Mars missions described as “hitting a bullseye on a target 100 Million miles away, with a 200 million dollar bullet.” Last Saturday, one of the most complicated scientific machines ever created began its journey to the red planet. If all goes according to plan, the Mars Science Laboratory, and its payload of the Curiosity Rover, will land within a 12 square mile target on August 5th, 2012 to begin searching for whether Mars could support life – either in the distant past or even perhaps the near future.

This is an artist’s rendition of how the MSL will land on Mars, as well as some of the highlights of the journey. If you ever wanted to see just how complicated it was to fire that 200 Million dollar bullet, this is a good place to start.

I say it all the time, but science is awesome!