The NASA Mars Science Laboratory erupted in a tremendous round of applause about 14 minutes after Curiosity made its touchdown on Mars during the early morning hours Monday... despite the timing of the landing, millions across America were undoubtedly watching on television and the internet. Perhaps more people became night owls last night as they listened to Richard C. Hoagland on George Noory's Coast to Coast AM bantering about the Mars mission and other oddities that Hoagland proclaims is truth while other roll eyes at.
But when Curiosity landed, it sent back a virtual text messages to the makers who watched it travel for 8 months hoping all was well: The Rover sent back black and white images. And with that, the future begins. What will we find, or not find? Yes, indeed, we are all curious.
After years of budget cuts and criticism over plans that couldn't get off the ground--not to mention the death of manned space flights--suddenly, NASA is being applauded and space is back on the front page again--at least for a day..
The project cost was $2.6 billion. Many believed that was a few billions too high. But despite critics who, for eight years, said it was waste, Curiosity didn't care. Instead, it made it. Landing in one piece.. It's one ton and as big as a car--and now NASA will study what signs of past life exist.
The rover will be controlled by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. According to NASA, there are 17 cameras and a laser that can survey the composition of soil and sediment on the hot red planet.
If all goes well, it will spend the next two years of Earth life trolling the landscape and snapping photos for NASA to see. Imagine the possibilities of what we will learn. All of us. The pale blue dot monitoring a ton of metal on Mars waiting to see if there are signs of past life--and then if there was past life what would that mean for us as a civilization?
NASA should be applauded by everyone for a successful landing. It could have gone exceptionally wrong. Instead we have a summer miracle: We did it! Bright ideas and minds of genius put together a plan to get this rover there. It's going to be a wild ride from here on..
Lots of fanfare. Now it's time to see if Curiosity will kill the cat..
