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Old 07-31-2012, 07:06 PM   #1
GinnyMouse
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Mars Curiosity Rover

On Sunday night at 10:30 PT, the Mars Curiosity Rover is expected to land (hopefully not crash land) on the surface of Mars. This is a pretty remarkable achievement - regardless of how you might feel about using tax dollars for space exploration. At our house it's pretty important because my husband works for JPL/NASA and we're going to the lab to watch the live feed from Mars. I cannot believe I just wrote that - how incredible!!!

Here is a link to a little video that explains the challenges of this project and how everything must be absolutely perfect to guarantee success.

Challenges of Getting to Mars: Curiosity's Seven Minutes of Terror - YouTube
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Old 07-31-2012, 09:59 PM   #2
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That is an awesome opportunity! I'd love to see that in person (at the lab, not on Mars, where I understand I wouldn't be able to breathe)!!

Congrats to your DH and all the others who are connected to this wonderful achievement.
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Old 07-31-2012, 10:16 PM   #3
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Very ! I am so fascinated by space exploration! Enjoy the awesome seats and I truly hope all goes well for the rover!
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Old 08-01-2012, 01:41 AM   #4
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Very neat - thanks for highlighting that, as that's a story that's got lost in our (perfectly understandable ) wall to wall Olympics coverage over here.
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Old 08-01-2012, 08:16 AM   #5
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The children's museum that my daughter volunteers at is having a special day to commemorate the landing on Sunday. That's about the only way I knew it was happening. Then I saw a quick piece about it on the news a few nights ago. I hope this rover has great success and doesn't get stuck like the last one.
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Old 08-01-2012, 09:10 AM   #6
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Old 08-01-2012, 09:11 AM   #7
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How exciting!
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Old 08-01-2012, 09:26 AM   #8
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That is so cool! I hope that everything goes smoothly for the rover!!!
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Old 08-01-2012, 09:42 AM   #9
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Very cool and exciting!
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Old 08-01-2012, 11:31 AM   #10
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My husband and I were laughing about how excited all the engineers are about watching the 'live feed' at the lab - because all the sane people on the West Coast will be able to watch it, albeit not live, from the comfort of their homes on the 11:00 news just a half hour later.

Still, it will be a tremendous event if all goes well and it's a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to 'be there as it happens'.
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Old 08-01-2012, 01:18 PM   #11
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Great, great story that will get scant media coverage. Here's a prayer for a soft landing
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Old 08-02-2012, 11:27 AM   #12
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How very cool! Watching the live feed would be awesome!!
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Old 08-02-2012, 12:13 PM   #13
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NASA coverage is going to be shown on the giant TV in Times Square
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Old 08-02-2012, 12:42 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by jimmymac View Post
NASA coverage is going to be shown on the giant TV in Times Square
Oh my gosh! I didn't kow that. That's very cool - but it will be so late, but maybe not by NYC standards. I'll have to let my son know, he's usually back in the City on Sunday nights.

Thank you for the heads-up!!!
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Old 08-02-2012, 01:14 PM   #15
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How very cool!
My FIL worked for NASA and my dad did some contracting via GE on the Apollo projects, so we're space geeks here.
I'm sure my DH and DD will be watching for webfeeds.
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