7 Minutes of Terror: The Challenges of Getting to Mars
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN repeatedly recommends it as an awe-inspiring example of engineering problem solving and the go-to explainer on how Mars landings work.
What it is
NASA JPL engineers explain the final minutes of the Curiosity rover's entry, descent and landing on Mars, which combined aerobraking, a parachute and a skycrane. It lays out the tight sequence of events that all had to work automatically.
Recommended by 5 HN commenters across 4 different months, 2016 to 2021.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec nicholasjon · 2016-10 · on “Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter views Schiaparelli landing site”
Reminds of the "Seven Minutes of Terror" video that NASA put out ahead of the Curiosity landing explaining how they intended to make it safely to the surface. [this video] (Note: I get goosebumps every time I watch this, absolutely amazing problem solving.)
Strong rec underseacables · 2021-02 · on “Mars landing: Photo shows Perseverance rover during landing”
If you have not watched the seven minutes of terror video produced by NASA, you absolutely must. It details exactly how they put these amazing machines on the surface of Mars. [this video]
Recommends radiorental · 2019-01 · on “Visual Programming Doesn’t Suck”
> I still haven't seen any case for visual programming. Aerodef, automotive, etc all use some form of visual programming. Controls engineers rarely write code, the systems are way too complex. E.g. I highly recommend watching this video from JPL to give you an understanding of where such tools excel. It's about simulating, iterating and then having scientists and engineers autogenerate the code they couldn't possibly write or test [this video]
Recommends DuskStar · 2019-10 · on “The SpaceX Starship is a big deal”
Curiosity used aerobraking, parachutes AND a skycrane to land. There's a great video here: [this video] Previous solutions weren't used because they were less crazy, but because they were more mass efficient for "small" payload sizes.
Recommends overlordalex · 2021-02 · on “NASA's Perseverance rover will attempt to land on Mars this week”
JPL produced a video titled "7 minutes of terror" that detailed the landing procedure they used for Curiosity, and it's worth a watch. It goes into detail on everything you see in the articles landing video: [this video]
Cites JetDogRush · 2017-03 · on “Breaks Observed in Rover Wheel Treads”
Surprisingly the wheels only weigh a few pounds each! (I still can't think in metric and I don't have a real number.) They were primarily constrained by packing volume during cruise ( [LINK] ) and then by shock loads as the securing pyrobolts blew during landing ( [this video] ).
Cites willglynn · 2018-10 · on “Hubble Space Telescope Is In Safe Mode After Gyro Failure”
There's a video showing the JWST deployment sequence. It's set to calm orchestral music, and the visuals are just 3D renters of the spacecraft. [LINK] This video makes me far more nervous than "7 Minutes of Terror", depicting Curiosity's entry/descent/landing sequence. Far more things have to go right in order for JWST to become operational. [this video]
Cites Robotbeat · 2019-06 · on “NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to Titan”
Yup. The robotic program has a very good track record of successes, even for crazy stuff like the Mars Science Laboratory’s sky crane descent stage: [this video] It’s the human spaceflight program that has had the, um, difficulties. There are signs of hope, though.