In a show of technological wizardry, the robotic explorer Curiosity blazed through the pink skies of Mars, steering itself to a gentle landing inside a giant crater for the most ambitious dig yet into the red planet’s past.
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The arrival was an engineering tour de force, debuting never-before-tried acrobatics packed into “seven minutes of terror” as Curiosity sliced through the Martian atmosphere at 13,000 mph. In a Hollywood-style finish, cables delicately lowered the rover to the ground at a snail-paced 2 mph. A video camera was set to capture the most dramatic moments – which would give Earthlings their first glimpse of a touchdown on another world.
~ vid & story ~
Murphy unavailable for comment.
Attaboys all around.
Updated with Missy’s image in comment (9). *snick*
Obama lands Curiosity on Mars.
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33 Comments!
It’s all fake just like the man on the moon story. People are starving in this world what good does it do to spend all that money to go to mars or the moon? If we don’t do something about global warming that’s what earth will be like. I’m waiting—wonder how long it will take?
There’s a 14 min. delay between Mars and Earth— amazing!!!!
Skycranes: better’n flying cars any day.
It’s Bushes fault, but that hasn’t stop Obama from taking credit for
slashing NASA budgetgetting our collective asses to mars.“Journalists”, oy.
Just STFU, huh? If you can’t say anything intelligent, don’t say anything.
^^Gwillie beat me to it. This is one case when Bambi won’t blame Bush.
You know, I watched the celebration in the control room live on Livestream last night and I SWEAR …I didn’t hear a single “Allahu Ackbar”!
Heads will definitely roll.
Reference:
“NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a recent interview that his “foremost” mission as the head of America’s space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world.”
USA!USA!USA!
Here, Doug :)
A huge success for America, boys and girls!!! These scientists and engineers were working on this for 8-10 years, while the mfcsMedia was putting down America & Americans. {…Knowledge is Power!…}
Oops- I’m late to the party, but great minds work alike. Here’s what I posted on Facebook this morning…
Hey Stilton I need a link to your facebook :)
It’s a wowbowt–look he’s working the wowbowt on Mars and killing Osama at the same time!!! What a man!!
Gwillie- Here’s the link to the Hope n’ Change Facebook page. I post the same material that I do at the Hope n’ Change Cartoons blog, but also throw in some additional material on a pretty regular basis.
I was a bit nervous but am more proud of this crew than even our Olympic team.
This is a genuine first on so many levels. I raise my glass to them.
So did we put a Muslim on Mars? They’re used to deserts. There’s prolly room for a billion of ‘m up there. That’s my kind of outreach to them. Way outreach.
I want to report a distressing lack of diversity in the JPL control room. There were only about 5 women out of 40 or so people, no obvious Mooselimbs, no disabled hispanic surnamed transgendered veterans, no political “science” or victim-studies majors, just competent engineers doing their jobs. I certainly hope that The Dear Golfer sends his diversity czar to solve this problem.
Just keep in mind that NASA didn’t do this all by theirsefs. It was all due to the forward-looking, change-inducing thoughts of
ChairmanPresident Obama.That Mars landing was a little like paying chess on a tiny board 20 feet away, using really long poles. It is an awesome success of modern technology.
That rover is nuclear-powered – it’ll keep running for another 10 years or so. Or as one commentator noted, it’ll be running when we land an astronaut on Mars. Pioneer stopped squeaking out signals from beyond the Solar System after 30 years in transit.
This one is real…
^ Wollllllllllllffffffffff!!!!!!!!!!
Marvin the sqvirrel!
dick (16)
heh*
There’s an update BTF just for you.
An oldie but a goodie.
I hate to rain on NASA’s parade on this one, but this 8-10-year effort is to replace the $350 million mistake they made on the last mission of this sort when somebody forgot to convert metric to S.A.E. So it crashed and went boom.
I know. I’m a party pooper. Turn it all over to private enterprise and watch the miracles happen.
How refreshing. A real morale booster for me. And Wollf #19 has me rolling.
geezerette #14
Yea, and were in the same time zone as Washington D.C. and none of our messages seem to get through.
^ Hog!!!!!
Don’t cross the memes!
MemeCrossing! That’s 15 yards, right? But…… Well, he’s Hog… Discount to 5 yards.
TWEEEEEEET! Play the Game!
^Doug (20) So you’re saying the muzzie contribution to science is gazing at the moon?
OK.
Some of them prolly did that.
Sorry. I didn’t realize I was crossing memes. I thought I was just mixing metaphors.
^^^ Okay, maybe I should’a added the cultural ref.
I can’t wait until the camera finally pans down, so they can see the Chik-Fil-A sticker that DougM stuck on the bumper just before lift-off.
Great post. Having a lot of fun with this one! Doug, check you mail that has to do with this.
^ *heh*
Wayy too sophisticated for this crowd.
Lemme sleep on it.
And let us not forget; NASA is RAAAACIST!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipGLGUgEhBA
Back home from the woods—# 22 TCT –I love it when someone gets it.