Curiosity’s First Daredevil Stunt
When Curiosity enters the Martian atmosphere on August 6th, setting in motion “the seven minutes of terror” that people around the world have anticipated since launch a year ago, the intrepid rover will actually be performing the mission’s second daredevil stunt.
The first was completed in July.
For the past nine months, Curiosity has been acting as a stunt double for astronauts, exposing itself to the same cosmic radiation humans would experience following the same route to Mars1.
“Curiosity has been hit by five major flares and solar particle events in the Earth-Mars expanse,” says Don Hassler of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. “The rover is safe, and it has been beaming back invaluable data.”