Breathe. Reset. Move on.

theatlantic:

How Did NASA Get This Incredible Photo of Curiosity’s Descent on Mars?

As the Mars Curiosity Rover descended through the atmosphere of Mars, humans on their couches weren’t the only ones watching. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA’s Martian satellite, was also looking — and taking pictures. Today, the MRO released an image of the rover descending, still attached to its parachute and before the heartstopping Sky Crane maneuvers.

What you’re looking at is a large parachute — 16 stories tall, 50 feet in diameter, the largest ever flown outside the Earth-Moon system — and beneath it, the one-ton rover with its “backshell” on.

Read more. [Image: NASA]

1. rianla14 likes this
2. purepopfornowpeople likes this
3. backoffice reblogged this from theatlantic
4. melecwi likes this
5. thelonliestmonk reblogged this from theatlantic
6. anarya-c reblogged this from upsettingshorts and added:

   Science!!!

7. hollywoodwhispers likes this
8. mobetter likes this
9. eggpunk likes this
10. lostinhistory reblogged this from gloriousmadness
11. backstagepassmusic likes this
12. thatbonegirl reblogged this from gloriousmadness
13. casapazzo reblogged this from theatlantic
14. kat4obama2012 likes this
15. teejkay likes this
16. pizi likes this
17. seanathonferris reblogged this from theatlantic
18. seanathonferris likes this
19. wonderkiller likes this
20. supersoldat likes this
21. lookingglassmaze reblogged this from gloriousmadness
22. theultimatetruthiness reblogged this from immortalnewsspork
23. ladyofthehouse likes this
24. immortalnewsspork reblogged this from texnessa
25. moonmoth likes this
26. mattlindley likes this
27. stickyheel5 likes this
28. sswslitinmotion likes this
29. snooz3r likes this
30. memphistechno likes this
31. dearbonnielass reblogged this from gloriousmadness
32. stuartdmt likes this
33. onepercentof1 likes this
34. rudimick reblogged this from theatlantic
35. hypotheticalisms likes this
36. lostinhistory likes this
37. thisistheglamorous likes this
38. anonymous-anomaly reblogged this from theatlantic
39. i-learned-this-today reblogged this from theatlantic
40. gumband likes this
41. tiggr75 likes this
42. fartraveler likes this
43. arteffect likes this
44. gloriousmadness reblogged this from grantmartin
45. gloriousmadness likes this
46. grantmartin reblogged this from theatlantic and added:

    Yeah.

47. aangeni likes this
48. absurdlakefront reblogged this from theatlantic and added:

    Amazing. Everything about the Curiosity mission is amazing.

49. perfunctionary reblogged this from theatlantic
50. sphinxnomore likes this
51. Show more notesLoading...