MSL Lands
The highly anticipated Mars Science Laboratory will undergo a stomach-churning landing maneuver in August to reach the surface of the Red Planet. The largest object that can currently be placed on the Martian surface, MSL is a one-ton rover that will search the planet for signs of water past and present and, more tantalizingly, evidence for native life.
The descent will entail a never-before-attempted procedure. The lander will first plummet through the atmosphere before opening a 51-foot parachute to slow down to subsonic speeds. Around 25 feet above the ground, a UFO-like platform will fire rockets and hover above the Martian plains before lowering the rover gently down on a set of wires known as a "sky crane." The hovering platform will then fly far from the rover and crash into the planet's surface.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech