Why couldn't the Mars Science Laboratory land using airbags to bounce to the Martian surface from a parachute? A. The presence of liquid water made it necessary to land the rover on its wheels.

B. Scientists and engineers were concerned that the airbags could become tangled in the MSL.

C. Engineers were worried the airbags might deflate too soon.

D. The heavier weight of the MSL made airbag landing technology impractical.

D. The heavier weight of the MSL made airbag landing technology impractical.

Explanation:

Airbags have been used by NASA before to land objects on Mars such as during the Pathfinder and Spirit and Opportunity missions due to their practicality in landing in a planet like Mars with its thin atmosphere.

This however could not be used for the Mars Science Laboratory mission because the rover involved which was called Curiosity, was simply too heavy to use airbags to land.