Remote guided landings on Mars is the focus of an upcoming talk by speaker Dr Brian Pollard, hosted by Wanaka Royal Society.

Brian spent 19 years at NASA’s jet propulsion laboratory working on, among other things, a wide range of Mars landings, beginning with the Mars Exploration Rovers in 2003 through to the successful Curiosity “Sky-crane” landing in 2012.

Robotic landing on Mars has long been viewed as one of the most challenging engineering endeavours in space exploration. 

The sequence from entry into Mars’ atmosphere to landing takes about six minutes, but with a 20 minute radio signal delay there is no possibility of ground intervention, and each landing craft must safely navigate to the surface on its own.

Brian’s talk, ‘Six Minutes of Terror - The Challenges and Rewards of Landing Robotic Spacecraft on Mars’ will take place this Friday (February 12) at the Presbyterian Community Centre on Tenby Street. 

It will draw on his expertise from NASA and more recent endeavours.

Brian will discuss his own experience in the history of robotic Mars landings, and the unique ways engineers have overcome some of the significant engineering challenges, with some particular observations from 2012’s fascinating Curiosity mission.

He will also touch on the future of both international and commercial space missions to Mars, both robotic and crewed, and the implications for both space exploration and our day-to-day life on Earth. 

‘Six Minutes of Terror - The Challenges and Rewards of Landing Robotic Spacecraft of Mars’ will take place at 6pm on Friday at the Presbyterian Community Centre at 91 Tenby Street, Wanaka. Tickets cost $5.00 per person and can be purchased at the door.

PHOTO: NZ Herald