[Talisker]

So get this: Curiosity lands, right?

And what does it look like?

The parachute detached and blew away.

The rocket pack detached and flew away.

Curiosity was landed straight down, gently.

So you’re a Martian, and you walk up to it.

A nuclear-powered, laser-armed SUV is just sitting there in the middle of the desert. No rocket, not parachute, no tracks.

Just sitting there.

Where the hell did it come from?

Weird visual, methinks.

[jmcenanly]

The pieces landed within walking distance of each other. The heat shield is about 1,312 yards from where Curiosity landed. The back shell is about 672 yards, and the sky crane 710 yards.


There is an article on this in IEEE Spectrum.