Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on August 6, 2012 at 11:01am

Cool Ruth!

I was just posting about this.

Great news indeed!

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on August 6, 2012 at 11:25am

Currently watching a NASA briefing on NASA TV.  It seems as though the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was programmed to photograph the rover during the descent.  It caught the rover package with the parachute deployed!  I'm still kicking myself for not pressing PrtScn and capturing that pic to share here, but I have no doubt it'll be on the evening news!

Meantime, here's a pic of the landing site as taken by the MRO:

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on August 6, 2012 at 11:59am

Awesome!

Permalink Reply by Annie Thomas on August 6, 2012 at 11:31am

This gives me goosebumps! 

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on August 6, 2012 at 11:41am

And here is the MRO pic of the rover as it descended:

Consider: the MRO was in orbit and has been for a while.  They had to command MRO to focus on a given target and anticipate the approach of the MSL.  Those commands were sent to the MRO Two Days Prior To The Event!

Have to say: These Guys (and Gals!) are PROS, Jack!

Permalink Reply by Steph S. on August 6, 2012 at 12:00pm

Cool picture Loren!

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on August 6, 2012 at 12:08pm

I guess I'm fascinated with NASA's ability to be able to program such a precise event as shooting one satellite with ANOTHER satellite!  They put up the picture of the Mars Rover descending as shot from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and I HAD to grab it and put it up!

Permalink Reply by Patricia on August 6, 2012 at 1:14pm

YAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!

Permalink Reply by Tammy S on August 6, 2012 at 1:23pm

I thought this was pretty great to see!

Permalink Reply by sk8eycat on August 6, 2012 at 3:16pm

I watched it live last night (how ccould I not?), and sat here laughing, clapping, and crying.  There's something about seeing a roomful of highly educated specialists going bananas with joythat really gets to me.  It's been a long time!  Too long.

And the usual gang of internet idiots instantly began posting complaints about the "billions of dollars wasted on space."  They still don't GET IT!  The money was spent HERE.  The jobs are HERE.  Every cent we've spent on NASA has already been paid back, and then some.  It's the only government agency that made money, and created useful jobs instead of make-work.

I guess what really bothers me is that the creeps who object to space research don't seem to have a problem with throwing trillions away on killing people halfway around the world.

Oh shut up, Felaine, and jump for joy for a change!  I AM still excited, and I want one of those blue polo shirts with the logo.  (I used to have a friend who worked in imaging at JPL, and he gave me some souvenir buttons from the Voyager missions...then he "got religion" and quit his job to become a pastor.  Too sad for words.)

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on August 6, 2012 at 2:22pm

Just to give you an idea of HOW BIG Curiosity is by comparison to previous Mars rovers, here's a pic with the three biggies:

That's Sojourner (foreground left), Opportunity (background left) and Curiosity (right).  The couple of techs standing there give a further idea of JUST HOW LARGE this latest landing package was!

Permalink Reply by Chris Breman on August 7, 2012 at 1:03am

Thanks Loren, I was looking for a picture like this!

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