How Curiosity Landed on Mars: 7 Minutes of Terror

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory · Documentary · 5 min · 2012 · YouTube title: 7 Minutes of Terror: The Challenges of Getting to Mars

Why it's here

HN repeatedly recommends it as an awe-inspiring example of engineering problem solving and the go-to explainer on how Mars landings work.

What it covers

NASA JPL engineers explain the final minutes of the Curiosity rover's entry, descent and landing on Mars, which combined aerobraking, a parachute and a skycrane. It lays out the tight sequence of events that all had to work automatically.