Carl will be sitting in the second seat, monitoring altitude and rate of descent, as well as viewing two other monitors – covering their butts, so to speak. While Tom is mostly peering forward and down, Carl will be checking rearward and down. The flatter the landing site, the better for everyone.
Two years prior to their arrival, the Fuel Processor 1 (FP1) spacecraft landed by computer in a predetermined location. A small remote controlled light truck will already have scouted the surrounding area, dropping transponders for the Bolo One crew to zero in on.
Ideally, the crew will land Bolo One within sight of the FP1 lander. However, as planned for in the mission scenario, their craft carries with it a small, fully fueled, unpressurized rover having a one-way range of 500 km. Provided they only miss the mark by a distance within that range, they will be fine.
When the time comes, two crewmembers will drive the rover to the FP1 landing site, where a larger pressurized rover awaits. Even if the crew further misses their landing mark, there is another fuel processor (FP2) following them to Mars, due to land about two weeks later. The crew will guide it down to land near their landing site.
On the other hand, if all goes well with Bolo One landing near FP1, the crew will land FP2 further out, but still within the 500 km rover range. This will give the mission an even greater range of exploration. They will be able to explore everything within a 250 km radius of FP1, plus after the 500 km trek over to FP2, everything within a 250 km radius of that site.
After the Bolo One landing, every two years an exciting leapfrog event would occur on the planet. FP2 would then become the primary fuel processor for the following manned landing craft, basically the next mission’s FP1. Thus setting up a chain of exploration and expanding the bases of operation.