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The Athena Project

Link: http://www.athena.cornell.edu/

On June 10, 2003, the first Mars Exploration Rover (MER) spacecraft was launched on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. After a seven month flight, it will enter the martian atmosphere in January, 2004. A second lander and rover will follow a short time later. In a spectacular landing similar to that of the Pathfinder spacecraft, a parachute will deploy to slow the MER spacecraft. Then a cocoon of airbags will inflate around the vehicle to cushion the shock of impact. The first bounce on the martian surface will reach more than one hundred feet into the air. The airbags will bounce about a dozen times, and could roll as far as one kilometer (0.6 miles). When the spacecraft finally comes to a stop, it will turn itself to an upright position so that the rover can deploy properly. The airbags will deflate and retract. Three "petals," like the petals of a flower, will open to reveal a tightly folded rover. Piece by piece the rover will take shape, deploying its camera mast, antennas, wheels, and solar arrays.

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