This is a maneuver i have been waiting to see for years since they first started talking about it. The hardest part i would have to say is programming the sky crane to do such a task even though it may be easier then it really looks.

I hope they don't just throw away the sky crane, but rather use it in some way after it has dropped off Curiosity. Maybe it could fly to the top of a hill, land there, and provide a panoramic view of what is around it as well as how curiosity is doing. I would think that cameras can not weigh enough to impact the overall weight of the sky crane.

hope they get the meters/feet delima solved.

I love the whole concept. Good work NASA

Let us not look around dumbfounded and surprised when this contraption fails spectacularly. It violates a basic tenet of engineering for exotic missions: K.I.S.S.! Do you not recall the Desert 1 fiasco of 1980? This Mars mission echoes some of the same complex features that doomed "Desert 1" and perhaps other lesser known projects.One more: The New York Times recently stated that the Curiosity landing sequence "evolved well in computer simulations." Yeah, right! It saddens me to feel so pesimistic about this fantastic endeavour. Best wishes to all concerned.

i wonder if it will send back televised images. how long does it take to receive a transmission from mars? science fiction is again fact. wow.

I will put this on my calendar for the landing. What will be the main goal for Curiosity? I hope this will give our space program the boost it needs. We have been a country of explorers from the start and this has been one of the reasons that has made the US a great country to live in. I hope you will keep us updated on the progress. Thanks

There's no mention if there will be cameras mounted on the descent stage to record the landing and transmit it Earth. That will be one spectacular video! Fingers crossed for the big event next July.

The video was stupid. A minute of video, then a green screen and some sound effects for 10 minutes. What?!

2.5Billion?
They should have spread the $/Risk out better than that.

Better to drop 2 or 3 smaller less capable landers on the same mission than bundle everything in one.
It has been proven that post landing, the same mission team can handle activity for more than one explorer. Many of the findings on the ground from previous crawlers are unexpected and unplanned so more wheels on the groun mean more discoveries even if the instruments are less than perfect.

Mr. Long forgets that we have two rovers on Mars now and they are still sending new information. They are also going to help decide where this one lands.

The Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory will do a much more than thr two rovers there have done and will send back different information from its new instruments.

I think that the landing has a good chance of succeeding. I'm sure the team has overcome many engineering challanges posed by this unsual design, but on the other hand landings with braking rockets mounted on a descent stage have been done before. On this mission - with being above the payload instead of below - the descent stage is just in an unusual place.

Good work done by NASA. We wish them success and more scientific discoveries.
Fred