BREAKING NEWS: NASA’s Curiosity Rover Touches Down on Mars

[Hissyspit]

Source: NBC News San Diego

"We are wheels down on Mars."

NASA's Curiosity rover scores touchdown on Mars

After 8 months of flight, spacecraft survives '7 minutes of terror' and lands safely

By Alan Boyle
Science editor
NBC News
updated 4 minutes ago

PASADENA, Calif. — After eight years of planning and eight months of interplanetary travel, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory pulled off a touchdown of Super Bowl proportions, all by itself.

The spacecraft plunged through Mars' atmosphere, fired up a rocket-powered platform and lowered the car-sized, 1-ton Curiosity rover to its landing spot in 96-mile-wide (154-kilometer-wide) Gale Crater. Then the platform flew off to its own crash landing, while Curiosity sent out a text message basically saying, "I made it!"

That message was relayed by the orbiting Mars Odyssey satellite back to Earth. A radio telescope in Australia picked up the message and sent it here to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When the blips of data appeared on the screens at JPL's mission control, the room erupted in cheers and hugs.

Because of the light-travel time between Mars and Earth, throngs of scientists and engineers — along with millions who were monitoring the action via television and the Internet — celebrated Curiosity's landing 14 minutes after it actually occurred.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com

---

(H/T: Image courtesy of DUer pokerfan)

https://twitter.com/MarsCuriosity/status/232352290919567361/photo/1/large

[crimson77]

1. That was awesome

[vanlassie]

2. Dust in the air!

[neverforget]

3. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

[Rhiannon12866]

4. Watching live on CNN now! Incredibly cool!

[christx30]

19. I was watching the

feed from the Nasa TV website. Sitting here smiling like an idiot and shaking from the excitement.
We need more "Hell YES!" moments like this for America's space program.

[Rhiannon12866]

23. I was busy downloading Java, LOL, got the link to the NASA site on Twitter...

While at the same time watching the TV and reading DU! It was so much nicer watching this and sharing the excitement with friends... And I can't stop smiling, either!

[christx30]

39. I had the feed from NASA

going on the left side of my screen, with the computer simulation going on the right. There was a 30 second delay, so I would see the heat shield drop, then they would say "heat shield seperation" 30 seconds later. But it was great to put the team on full screen for the last 2 minutes and watch them scream and applaud when they said "Touchdown Confirmed."

This is the closest my generation is going to get to the moon landing.

[enlightenment]

5. Actually shed a few happy tears . . .

WooHOO!

Congratulations to everyone who has worked so long and hard for this moment!

[Rowdyboy]

6. For 50+ years the space program has been a constant in my life....and I still get the same thrill

as I did as a child. Amazing.

[CherokeeDem]

9. I'm right there with you, Rowdyboy....

since the first launches...and it never gets old...exactly the same thrills.....

[Rowdyboy]

24. I feel like I'm 8 again, and Gus Grissom or John Glenn has just touched down safely.....

What can you say?

[neverforget]

14. Same here! I let out a Fuck Yeah! when they said it was down. So very cool!!!

I love NASA/JPL science and technology. Money well spent.

[Rowdyboy]

25. I had to yell very quietly because my guy is asleep across the room but I still yelled!

I don't begrudge a nickle the space sprogram has spent-in medical research alone its been worthwhile.

[Daphne08]

29. It's the same for me as well.

[msongs]

7. has it found mitt romney's tax returns yet? nt

[caveat_imperator]

20. No, but

it did find some more of Mitt's offshore bank accounts.

[nenagh]

8. Wonderful scene....

Loved the 'heartbeat tone' from Curiosity saying it was OK...

[Ninjaneer]

10. Congrats to all the engineers and scientists that made it happen!

So amazing. Got a little emotional thinking about how far we've come as a race.

[UrbScotty]

11. Government comes through again ;-)

[former9thward]

43. Strange statement since NASA did not build Curiosity.

33 corporations built it. NASA did provide the money.

[UrbScotty]

44. That's about all NASA didn't do. NASA is running every aspect

of the mission.

[uppityperson]

12. Nerds Rule!

[Skittles]

26. gotta love those NASA geeks

LOVE them!

USA! USA! USA!

[part man all 86]

13. Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs gave me John Carter series and I dreamed of Mars since.

[Warren DeMontague]

15. YES!!!

YES!!!!!!!

[AllyCat]

16. Wonder what the Christian "Science" Textbooks will say about this one?

[Grown2Hate]

22. "Nobody really KNOWS how the rover landed on Mars, but we can rest

assured that it landed safely on God's spare pillow, for it was his will, apparently."

[intaglio]

28. Please use the Sarcasm smiley

I know it's obvious but everyone over-reacts.

("Smilies" button, and then the "..." button or just type ":_sarcasm_:" without the underlines

[IcyPeas]

17. I love good news

so cool!!

[RexDart]

18. I can start breathing and stop drinking...

The feeling when those first photos came in. Freaking awesome. It should be about 48 hours before the really sweet data comes in. I'm just shaking my head on how over the top this plan was, and how well it worked.

[Grown2Hate]

21. As my favorite shirt says, "Science! It WORKS, bitches!!!". :)

Also, I'm going to be SO fucking tired at work tomorrow. WORTH IT.

[Comrade Grumpy]

27. I am so pleased this was a success. Now, let's see what we find.

[Peace Patriot]

30. Fantastic!

Such an incredibly innovative, ambitious, creative, noble, LOW COST plan for the highest of human goals: knowledge!

Let this be a template for our society, our country and humanity!

No more war! No more exploitation! Let us all get SMARTER!

Kudos and laurel wreaths to the engineers and audacious dreamers at NASA!

[truthisfreedom]

31. Elon Musk must be grinning ear to ear, knowing how much money he stands to make from NASA's success.

With his rockets and NASA's technology, we have the universe by the tail.

Well, the solar system. 8^D

[NBachers]

32. I gotta be up in four hours, and I'm so pumped I still can't go to bed

Sure is nice to hang out with the smart people!

[libodem]

33. Woo Hoo

[dipsydoodle]

34. Mars Curiosity begins search for life more intelligent than average Facebook commenter

NASA’s Mars rover ‘Curiosity’ will today begin its search for intelligent life capable of understanding a Facebook post and commenting in a coherent manner.

The ambitious mission began as the rover landed at 6:30 GMT this morning, and is set to last two years as the device scours the surface of the red planet for life forms that put their brains in gear before hitting a keyboard.

A NASA spokesperson issued a cautious statement, telling reporters, “We need to set expectations correctly. The odds on us finding such a life form are slim, as it’s already near impossible to find one in some of the more densely populated towns in the UK.”

“We’ve found algae in the middle of the Pacific ocean with better impulse control than half the Facebook population, but the red planet might be a stretch too far.”

Read more: http://newsthump.com/2012/08/06/mars-curiosity-begins-search-for-life-more-intelligent-than-average-facebook-commenter/#ixzz22ktB4YTu

[sofa king]

35. Awesome!

It appears to have stuck its landing and earned a perfect score on the vault.

Now for the floor exercises.

[Lucinda]

42. :)

Nicely done!

[Odin2005]

36. YAY!!!!!!!!!

[krispos42]

37. Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

[sofa king]

38. Raw images link here:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/

Some of the one-megapixel images should be coming in soon, and a color horizon shot within a few days.

As systems check out and come online, and the telescopic mast deploys, the images will improve from black-and-white thumbnails to three dimensional color panoramas over the next three days. Even the hazard camera thumbnail images, which is what we are seeing now, will improve after the dust-covers are popped off.

In the meantime, the descent stage was also captured in images, and those will be pieced together into an animation showing some of the descent and landing, which should be cool, too.

http://www.universetoday.com/96610/when-are-the-first-pictures-expected-from-curiosity/#more-96610

[Uncle Joe]

40. Kudos to NASA's scientists and engineers!

Thanks for the thread, Hissyspit.

[PlanetBev]

41. Well, this could be the end of my Kiddie Matinee fantasties

Invaders from Mars, Red Planet Mars, This Island Earth. When I was a kid, I was a true believer. I was so convinced that those criss-cross markings were canals. Too many grade B movies, I guess.

I guess the best I can hope for now are a few microbes, if I'm lucky.

[Franker65]

45. Excellent

The Curiosty twitter feed is most enjoyable - really down to earth, to the point, and keeping any boring elements far away.