MSL - landing day, Got any plans? Options

[Seryddwr]

On a light note, has anyone made any plans for 5 August? It is, after all, less than one hundred days away now, and I'm sure Mars is getting very big in the window for ol' Curiosity.

I hope they'll get a webcast going. I'll be frantically clicking on 'refresh' on here come what may!...

[MOD NOTE: Topic moved to Chit Chat for obvious reasons.]

[brellis]

I remain - uh, Curious - about the factor of atmosphere in calculating the trajectory of the landing of MSL. When was the likely atmospheric effect established, and from what data? Because, parachute? On Mars?? Just ask weathermen on earth, that atmosphere can change a lot!

[Drkskywxlt]

I remain - uh, Curious - about the factor of atmosphere in calculating the trajectory of the landing of MSL. When was the likely atmospheric effect established, and from what data? Because, parachute? On Mars?? Just ask weathermen on earth, that atmosphere can change a lot!

MSL will actively control its descent, watch the EDL video on Youtube to see that. That's what allows it to have such a small landing ellipse relative to past missions. But, there still is atmospheric data that is incorporated into the plan. That data comes primarily from general circulation modeling, augmented with mesoscale modeling. These models have been "tuned" based on available atmospheric data (e.g., Viking landers, TES, MCS, etc...). The models provide a range of expected density, pressure and wind profiles during descent and that constrains the engineering problem. The atmospheric density on Mars is far more variable than on Earth, but it is of course much much less in absolute terms.