Colorado team explains part in Mars rover landing

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - If you remember those school experiments where students are asked to launch an egg in a 2-liter bottle and get it to land safely, that’s a lot like the problem the Sierra Nevada Corporation was trying to solve, except instead of an egg, it’s a Mars rover.

“It’s like pushing a Mini Cooper out of the window of a two story building and having it free-fall and just stop just before it touches the ground,” - Matt Johnson, VP of programs Sierra Nevada Corporation explained.

When Perseverance landed last Tursday, a big part of the landing came from Johnson’s team in Louisville, Colorado. They put together the cable system that helps the rover land perfectly on the surface.

“Like a fly rod on a fishing pole, you set the tension just perfectly to when you get a bite. Though the fish is only going to go so far, so very same principle.”

SNC also worked with the Curiosity rover using the same system, with a ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” approach.