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How NASA's Curiosity rover changed Mars landings forever (photos)

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NASA developed the sky crane maneuver to safely land a car-sized rover on Mars 12 years ago .

NASA 's first three Mars rovers landed enveloped by massive, inflated airbags that bounced more than 15 times on the Red Planet's surface before slowing to a stop.

The only way for Curiosity to be lowered to the surface was using a rocket-powered sky crane, which itself had to be deployed seamlessly midway during the mission's descent.

NASA used the same skycrane technique to land Curiosity 's Curiosity rover on Mars .

The method saved the extra weight of ferrying a landing platform on an already-heavy spacecraft.

NASA 's then-Administrator Mike Griffin told the mission team that the idea was crazy, but it might be crazy enough to work.