When the Mars Rover Curiosity left Earth, it was carrying a
cruise stage, whose parts included a sun sensor and star
scanner, propellant tanks, and a couple antennae. The craft
released the cruise stage, along with two 165-pound blocks of
tungsten ballast, to gain some aerodynamic lift right before it
hit Mars' atmosphere, preparing for the "seven minutes of
terror" it would take to reach the surface. The blocks and
cruise stage landed 50 miles away from where Curiosity itself
landed. The Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter has captured images of
these impacts. Mars has plenty of impact scars, but usually
scientists don't have access to details about the objects that
hit the surface. Knowing information about the initial size,
velocity, density, strength, or impact angle of the objects--the
tungsten blocks and the cruise stage-- will help NASA scientists
understand impact processes and the properties of both the
atmosphere and surface of Mars, which will be helpful,
especially if we ever move there. Five amazing, clea