Precision in landing was important because NASA chose a relatively tight area for Curiosity's arrival: The Gale Crater, which contains an 18, 000-foot high mountain about 7.5 miles south of the landing site.

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It was a precision job, like landing on the Moon, as the team lowered into Erte Ale and recorded the first ever 3D laser scan of this remarkable volcano.

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When to let a pilot know his landing is aborted requires precision timing--turn him away too soon and, given the nature of aerodynamics, the plane will smash into the deck or the water.

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Advances in satellite observations have narrowed down the error in the path and landing site of tropical cyclones, and improved the accuracy and precision of atmospheric-weather and ocean-weather forecasts.

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