And
we thought landing men on the moon was something!
by Charlie Leck
by Charlie Leck
I’m not a scientist
– not even close – and I rank pretty low on the science-knowledge index even as
the layman I am; but, boy, oh boy, am I excited and impressed with the landing
of Curiosity on the surface of Mars
and the way it was done. The whole nation – no scratch that and substitute – the whole world
should be impressed as well.
What an
incredible feat NASA pulled off! Can
you just imagine? Do you suppose God was watching with a smile of pride on Her
face?
I just finished
going through the slide presentation posted on-line by
the Washington Post and I could only say “wow” again and
again as I clicked through the photographs and read the little captions.
The biggest
challenge, I guess, that the NASA
team faced was getting Curiosity down
on to the planet’s surface without it getting damaged. That involved slowing
the spacecraft in only six minutes time – the craft that would lower Curiosity down to the planet – from a
speed of 12,000 mph to zero so that it could hover and then lower Curiosity by cables). Can you imagine?
No wonder God was smiling!
I just shake my
head and say in wonderment: “It’s beyond me!”
I just can’t
imagine what is ahead in the future – what wonders my grandchildren will get to
witness. Will there come a day when technicians will look back on this
achievement and chuckle at the simplicity of it; perhaps as we smile today at
the launching of the Monitor and the Merrimac during the Civil War?
For any of you
who are as taken by this historic event as I, here’s
an article in PC World
that will enable you to “tag along online” in the coming days with Curiosity – by…
Twitter (@MarsCuriosity)
Mission Central (NASA’s
page where you can find the latest unedited photos from Curiosity and a whole lot more)… http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/
You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/user/JPLnews/) where you can enter your name to get
updates when they have new videos.
NASA mobile app (enter NASA Be a Martian in your app search engine to get the app that
best fits your mobile phone or pad)..Apple
users, for instance, will be sent here (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nasa-be-a-martian/id543704769?mt=8)
Oh, yes: You’re
welcome!
_________________________
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If you read my blog regularly, why not become a follower? All you have to do is click in the upper right hand corner and establish a simple means of communication. Then you'll be informed every time a new blog is posted here. If all that's confusing, here's Google's explanation of how to do it! If you don’t want to post comments on the blog, but would like to communicate with me about it, send me an email if you’d like.
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