Earth Eyes On Mars = A Curious Weekend

Wednesday, August 8th, 2012

by Theras Wood 

Something unusual surrounded the successful landing of Curiosity on Mars — and it happened right here on Earth.

Did you notice a few more glints in the eyes of the broadcasters covering the story? An extra bounce in the steps of the news men and women holding mics and cameras?  Did you happen to notice the heaps of comedians, scientists, media personalities, celebrities, etc., who were all absorbed in some sort of space chat?

The world, it seemed, was buzzing with talk of Curiosity. Twitter in particular was lit up with videos, pictures, links, and tweets of excitement about all the goings-on.

Artist rendition of a Mars rover. Credit: James Steidl / Shutterstock

One for the Record Books

As many are reporting, this successful Mars rover landing could prove to be a gigantic leap forward for NASA, and for the entirety of the space community.

As President Barack Obama said on Sunday, “Tonight, on the planet Mars, the United States of America made history”. Add to this the recent successful docking of the SpaceX capsule with the International Space Station (another momentous morale booster for the space community) and what we could have here are the makings of a renewed collective excitement for space exploration.

A Triumphant NASA

Does this even begin to hark back to the age of the space race? Could this be a sign of things to come? Either way, the U.S. — and NASA in particular — have a huge space success to be proud of. A success that could lead to more public appreciation and more public dollars.

Now, if you weren’t able to check out the action on Sunday, here’s what the command centre looked like when Curiosity landed. (Be prepared for a couple goosebumps.)

Did Curiosity get the best of you, too? Then let’s let William Shatner can clear that up.

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