392 – Curiosity
I don’t know if anyone else watched the landing of Curiosity, but it was pretty incredible. I don’t ever get tired of watching the Mars Curiosity team erupt into cheers and hugs and tears as they hear the news of the successful landing.
For those who missed it, here’s an excellent condensed video of the anticipation and reactions from the control room with the brilliant animation of the landing: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=1103 (WATCH IT!)
Personally, I believe that this event has helped to bring back the excitement for exploration outside of our planet which is SO important. This will keep me going for the rest of the week. 🙂
I also made a new “Cosmical” comic about the event right HERE. And one of my previous “Cosmical” comics also goes well with this. Read it HERE.
So true.
I heard an interview with Neil deGrass Tyson where he pointed out that the people who made the computer revolution… Bill Gates, Robert Noyce, Larry Page, Steve Jobs… They were all kids when the Apollo missions were going on. They grew up surrounded by science, in a world where scientists were admired, and grew up to change the world.
Exxxxactly!
Great video! Thanks for the link.
Also, some of those people who were inspired by Apollo 11 and made the computer revolution? They’ve taken the money they made and are using it to develop commercial exploitation of space travel. That means improving the reliability and efficiency of the technology involved, which is all to the good. There’s a third path off planet: China is hell-bent to prove they can do what we (Americans) once did. So if the first permanent off-planet presence is a Chinese military base on Mars? It’s still a human presence off-planet, so more power to them. (Besides, what could motivate Americans more than having the Chinese get there first?)
I agree! Competition is what got us to the moon in the first place!
Gosh I have smart fans. 😉
To answer your question: yes. I stayed up and watched the Curiosity landing live on the NASA feed via science.nasa.gov. Pretty emotional for me. I watched the Apollo moon landing live on TV when I was a kid. Still remember it, and stepping outside into the backyard, looking at the moon and trying to see the astronauts. Was also watching live when the Challenger exploded on take off. Among some of the highs & lows. Whenever possible I always watch the landings & takeoffs. Can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t, and certainly have never understood the hostility of some people toward the space program.
God speed, Curiosity. I’ll be watching your endeavors for years to come. Live long and prosper! 😉 😀
The only problem is: Our solar system is but a tiny speck of dust in the universe itself. Heck, we could explore the entire galaxy and we’d still have seen barely any of the universe.
But enough cynicism, Curiosity was still an exciting event, and had it not been so inconveniently timed, I would have definitely watched!