Mars dust storm, minor wobble give Curiosity scientists pause
Source: LA Times
A dust storm on Mars and a minor wobble in the spacecraft's trajectory have given scientists something to think about, but leaders of NASA'sCuriosity mission said Thursday that they are on track for a Sunday landing — the delivery of the largest and most ambitious machine ever sent to another planet.
"Things are almost too quiet," Pete Theisinger, the mission's project manager, said Thursday at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge as Curiosity barreled toward Mars at 7,987 mph. "I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop."
Curiosity, a roving lab that will scour Mars for the ingredients of life, is scheduled to land at 10:31 PDT Sunday in an ancient geological feature known as the Gale Crater. It is a complex operation. At 1,982 pounds, Curiosity is five times heavier than previous Mars rovers. Its landing requires a dizzying sequence of pyrotechnics and on-the-fly adjustment, all done automatically because Mars is 154 million miles distant, too far for the swift communication needed to guide the landing from Earth.
PHOTOS: A rover called Curiosity
At a briefing Thursday, scientists said satellites had discovered a dust storm swirling south of Gale Crater. Earlier this week, the storm was more than 600 miles from Curiosity's landing site but large enough that it could kick up a pesky cloud of dust.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0803-mars-curiosity-20120803,0,1349831.story?track=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=104530
= new reply since forum marked as read
here is the schedule for NASA TV, covering the descent and landing.
August 5, Sunday
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. - NASA Science News Conference Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity Rover Pre-Landing News Conference - Rover Communication overview - JPL (All Channels)
6 - 7 p.m. - NASA Science News Conference - NASA Science Mission Directorate - JPL (All Channels)
11 p.m. - Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity Rover Landing Coverage of Entry Decent and Landing (Commentary #1 Begins 11:30 p.m.) - JPL (Public and Education Channels)
11 p.m. - Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity Rover Landing Coverage of Entry Decent and Landing (Clean Feed with Mission Audio Only) - JPL (Media Channel)
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Breaking.html
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If I cross any more fingers, I won't be able to type. 
the Martians won't be hiding out in the open
'A Mars-orbiting satellite recently spotted seven dark spots near the planet's equator that scientists think could be entrances to underground caves.'
http://www.space.com/3632-mars-caves-targets-search-life.html
