So how about that Mars rover, Curiosity?! Did you hear about it, have you seen it, do you even care?
I'm absolutely amazed by the whole thing. Just think for a minute what these NASA engineers have been able to accomplish. They've taken a vehicle the size of a car and propelled it more than 300 million miles into space. The trip lasted 8 and a half months and in the end, on final decent the spacecraft would have to slow down from a speed of 13,200 miles per hour to a dead stop on the surface of Mars! That final decent, roughly 7 minutes was called "7 minutes of terror."
Soon after those 7 minutes the words engineers had been waiting to hear, "touchdown confirmed" were broadcast throughout mission control. Nothing short of amazing.
Just think, when was the last time you took a long trip in the car without any problems? No flat tires, no overheated radiators, nothing! NASA engineers were able to get this rover onto the surface of Mars and it's transmitting data! Nothing short of amazing in my book.
We now have years of information to look forward to from Curiosity. The project has been nothing short of incredible so far and this is just the beginning!
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