Mars science laboratory Curiosity set for lift off

[popeyespappy]

I have grave misgivings about the sky crane concept. I think it is a high probability of failure method in which multiple modes of catastrophic failure are present.

Yes it’s a complex system and failure is a possibility. However they aren’t planning on doing it that way just for the hell of it. It was selected by committee after a great deal of study of the available options. This is a large payload. Other methods of landing it on the surface of Mars that have been successfully used in the past were considered and rejected as unsuitable for this mission due to the size and weight. Even if it fails it doesn’t mean it wasn’t the best available option available at the time.