Wanderer arrives at Eve – there should be just enough fuel to circularize!

Wander burns into its orbit of Eve! The orbit isn’t perfectly circular, but it’s an orbit!  So far the Eve Communications Network has been performing perfectly!  Scientists are eager and nervous to see if the Eve lander will survive the landing, and transmit from the surface!

Because of the tremendous speed of the lander, the Re-entry rockets fire so that the craft will slow down in the atmosphere for a few orbits before actually taking the final plunge. 

While Eve has been mapped from orbit, the particulars of navigating the planets ultra dense atmosphere has proven challenging for KSEA mission planners!

While tedious, the orbital dipping method does appear to be a good strategy – impatient engineers are already working on a replacement for the next Eve lander though!

The protective shell ejects and the Wanderer rover slowly glides to the surface!

Cheers are heard throughout KSC – Rover has safely landed on the surface and started transmitting science! After transmitting the science data from the surface the rover will need to recharge… then scientists will see if surface exploration is possible!