Curiosity: Monday's survival odds.

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40 missions to Mars and 2/3 of them failed to even successfully land or begin their mission. Some even missed the planet entirely.

What are the odds for Curiosity surviving its landing Sunday night? Best (And Worst) Mars Landings Ever | Red Planet & Mars Exploration | Mars Missions, Mars Probes | Space.com

Soviet Union successfully landed Mars 3 on the surface Dec. 2, 1972. If you can call 20 seconds of communication and then nothing a success. I don't.

Mars dust storm, minor wobble give Curiosity scientists pause - latimes.com

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[DragonFly]

It will land. We don't mistake meters for feet any more.

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It will land. We don't mistake meters for feet any more.

Well, I figure it has a 65% chance of hitting Mars. But given it does, will it survive the hit? I jumped from airplanes and landed each time. Didn't get up right away every time though. Cracked tibia, broke back, and damn near drowned.

[DragonFly]

I jumped from airplanes and landed each time. Didn't get up right away every time though. Cracked tibia, broke back, and damn near drowned.

I jumped out of a plane without a parachute once. Luckily the plane was still on the ground.

[Angry Citizen]

I'd say it's more likely than 2/3rds chance. We know what we're doing these days.

[Zeebadee]

How much are we spending to do these duplicate missions to Mars? We've done this before, the first time more than 35 years ago. There's nothing there, why do we keep wasting money by repeating missions already accomplished?

[Angry Citizen]

Luddite alert.

There's a lot to learn on Mars, and Curiosity is not a "duplicate" mission. If I land a probe in the Mojave desert, the frozen tundra of northern Alaska, and the African savannas, have I discovered everything there is to know about the Earth?

This mission, the culmination of years of work and effort, carries the measly price tag of two and a half billion dollars. For reference, that's two and a half B2 bombers that are currently rusting away in a hangar somewhere.

[Zeebadee]

Trekkie alert.

Mars has been mapped and re-mapped, there is no frozen tundra, no savanna, it's all Mojave desert. Let's solve some of the problems we have right here on earth and stop wasting money and talent buying newer and fancier toys for NASA engineers to play with.

[Angry Citizen]

Mars has been mapped and re-mapped, there is no frozen tundra, no savanna, it's all Mojave desert.

No it's not. Clearly you know nothing of Mars if you assert that it's all the same terrain.

[Zeebadee]

No it's not. Clearly you know nothing of Mars if you assert that it's all the same terrain.

Sure, there are different types of terrain on Mars. My point was that it's all like the Mojave desert - there's nothing there. How many more missions should we send up before we come to the same conclusions we came to about further moon landings - there's no reason to go back.

[Angry Citizen]

My point was that it's all like the Mojave desert - there's nothing there.

Really? So the fact that we've discovered Mars once had a hydrological cycle, and is even showing signs of very recent (yet temporary) water activity doesn't pique your interest about the possibility that life once lived on Mars? For all we know, there still exist living microorganisms on the planet. And we won't know until we send more probes that require a pittance of our national budget. If you're so keen on fighting waste in government spending, then go fight it elsewhere. This has benefits you cannot possibly imagine.