New Wheels for the Red Planet

I was able to watch the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory "Curiosity" this morning, but remembering how the Russian probe meant to go to Mars's moon Phobos and bring a bit of it back to Earth is still stuck in Earth orbit I suppose I remained cautious until I heard the upper stage had completed all of its necessary burns to push the rover to escape velocity. As the rover is powered with a radioisotope thermal generator, I suspect having it stuck in a low orbit would mean that much more media hysteria than was directed to the hydrazine fuel of the Russian probe (and never mind that Apollo 13's RTG fell back to Earth).

At the same time, I know that landing the rover on Mars in August of next year will be complicated, involving a never before used rocket stage that will slow to a mid-air hover, reel the rover down on a cable to the ground, and only then try not to land on top of the rover. Still, I do remember how back in university I was writing an essay on the then en-route Mars Pathfinder for a course on astronomy I was taking for amusement as much as edification, and wondering how it would fare on landing even with its then-untried airbags. There may be grounds for hopeful optimism yet.