Mars Rover Curiosity Lands Safely on Mars

Posted by Emperor Misha I on August 6, 2012

Big kudos to the team behind this mission. With so many things that could go wrong, the entry and landing appears to have gone without a hitch and Curiosity is now safely down.

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28 comments

  1. 1
    Orion growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 01:13

    I am SO thrilled to be wrong! I’m enjoying my lovely heaping helping of crow with a side of ketchup. Delicious!

    Massive congratulations to NASA/JPL and everyone involved – Absolutely phenomenal. Watching it live was stunning – the live data feed through Odyssey was awe-inspiring. The entire thing – especially the joy on the faces of the crew – made me proud to be American.

    Wonderful!

    Orion

  2. 2
    Tallulah growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 01:15

    Just watched it on JPL’s livestream. Never saw so many scientists get so emotional! Back in Apollo’s day, they would’ve all lit up cigarettes. ;-)

    This is a nifty 2-minute video from the JPLers showing the finale of the landing sequence dubbed “Seven Minutes of Terror.” Because so many things could go wrong!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E37Ss9Tm36c

  3. 3
    Orion growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 01:41

    Cannot WAIT to see the pics this thing is going to send back – I’m still in shock!

  4. 4
    LC cmblake6, Imperial Black Ops Technician growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 04:06

    This is awesome! And we do it so well. Shame we don’t have the same science in our politics. :em03:
    LC cmblake6, Imperial Black Ops Technician recently posted..And in out WTF Category…My Profile

  5. 5
    Draven32 growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 04:20

    glad to see no one screwed up the imperial-to-metric conversion this time!

  6. 6
    Just Another Random Nut, GLOR growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 07:27

    And it flatly amazes me how much love there is for this stuff – and how much good it could do us – and Obama gave up on it and sent the money to handouts instead. It’s a crime.
    Just Another Random Nut, GLOR recently posted..Racism.My Profile

  7. 7
    single stack growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 09:23

    I watched it live last night. You can keep up with all the developments here.

    http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html

  8. 8
    LC HJ Caveman82952 growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 11:57

    I held my breath until it was safely on the ground, remembering the can do, will do spirit of the space program. A complicated maneuver, pulled off without a hitch, from millions of miles away. I remember a high school kid, entering his senior year, looking up at the moon, thinking…There’s people up there…….. A world full of promise and vigor, now being torn apart and torn down by various interests for their own benefit.
    Yet a little spacecraft brought back all those memories…..
    Well done, guys……………well done.

  9. 9
    DJ Allyn growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 12:05

    NASA didn’t want this to get out, but here is the first picture it beamed back

    :em05:

  10. 10
    LC Cheapshot911, Dept. of Redneck Tech growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 13:00

    We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. JFK
    Ok, we did the moon. ‘Took lot’s of notes from the myriad success’s and disappointments, ,, now we’re ripping secrets loose from another planet.
    Let the haters hate.
    Funny though:
    We can shoot a mobile, remote control interplanetary research broadcast station vehicle to Mars,, but we still can’t come up with a ‘lectric car ballsy enough to sport a trailer hitch.
    I say, let NASA compete in the auto design industry.

  11. 11
    FrankOK growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 13:08

    LC Cheapshot911, Dept. of Redneck Tech says:
    … snip

    I say, let NASA compete in the auto design industry.

    … talk about “Gubmint Motors” … :em07:
    FrankOK recently posted..Exactly what I’d do, alsoMy Profile

  12. 12
    single stack growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 13:25

    DJ Allyn @ #:

    :em05: :em01:

    I LOL’d. really.

  13. 13
    Igor, Imperial Booby growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 13:43

    LC Cheapshot911, Dept. of Redneck Tech @ #10:
    Au contraire, mon frere! Check out the Tango – a trailer hitch in the back AND the front. (See if you can figure out why…) :em03:

    It wasn’t designed by Gubmint Motors, that’s one good reason why…

  14. 14
    LC Draco growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 14:43

    Deej!!! Now THAT is hilarious!!

    Way to go NASA/JPL! Makes me proud to be an American and a space junkie!!!!!

    :em01:
    LC Draco recently posted..MGRS Tools recognized by Commanding General of the 75th DivisionMy Profile

  15. 15
    LC Alric growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 14:45

    Congratulations! I’m excited in seeing what they’ll turn up there. Hopefully they can get the groundwork done for a manned mission in the not too different future. :em01:

  16. 16
    single stack growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 15:12

    Igor, Imperial Booby @ #:

    “Front hitch for moving airplanes”

    HUH?

  17. 17
    LC LOBO growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 15:29

    DJ Allyn says:

    NASA didn’t want this to get out, but here is the first picture it beamed back

    Marvin called, he said get that shit off his planet.

  18. 18
    LC Cheapshot911, Dept. of Redneck Tech growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 19:11

    Igor, Imperial Booby @ #:
    Yeah, we’ve got two gubmint agencies,, why not make ‘em compete?
    That,, is,, ballssy.
    3000 ft/lbs of torque at the bottom? That’s amazing.. ‘Wonder if it comes in a longbed. (Glances out at boat) Mmm,, might be a little knock knee’d on the highway ramps.
    It’d fit right in my shed tho’.
    Dang,, if only it had mower blades.

  19. 19
    LC R6 growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 19:32

    Hope there are no cats on Mars. :em03:

  20. 20
    Bitter Clinger growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 20:14

    DJ Allyn @ #9:
    We’re STILL obstructing his view of Venus :em05:

    On another note, I didn’t know there were Muslims on Mars (you know to make them feel good about their contributions to math blah blah blah) :em04:

  21. 21
    LC Ogrrre growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 21:52

    It’s a good thing that there are no cats on Mars. I suppose Phobos and Deimos chased them all away. In any case, had the lander squashed a Mars cat, the headlines would read: Curiosity Killed the Cat. Women and Children Hardest Hit.
    Someone with whom the Shop Fu is especially strong: hint, hint.

  22. 22
    LC LOBO growls and barks:
    August 6, 2012 at 22:10

    LC R6 says:

    Hope there are no cats on Mars.

    LC Ogrrre says:

    It’s a good thing that there are no cats on Mars. I suppose Phobos and Deimos chased them all away. In any case, had the lander squashed a Mars cat, the headlines would read: Curiosity Killed the Cat. Women and Children Hardest Hit.
    Someone with whom the Shop Fu is especially strong: hint, hint.

    Gordon Shumway ???

  23. 23
    LC Ogrrre growls and barks:
    August 7, 2012 at 00:36

    Gordon Shumway is the reason there are no cats on Melmac. I don’t recall his ever visiting Mars.
    I think he would get along well with dEar Leader, in that they both are fond of snacks involving domestic pets. While Il Douche prefers canine cuisine and Gordon prefers feline fritters, there is room for both of them in the big tent of the democrat party. :em07:

  24. 24
    Mark12A growls and barks:
    August 7, 2012 at 08:02

    Igor, Imperial Booby says:

    LC Cheapshot911, Dept. of Redneck Tech @ #10:
    Au contraire, mon frere! Check out the Tango – a trailer hitch in the back AND the front. (See if you can figure out why…)
    It wasn’t designed by Gubmint Motors, that’s one good reason why…

    Takes me back to that AMC commercial from a thousand years ago…”Where’s the rest of your car, toots?”

  25. 25
    LC Cheapshot911, Dept. of Redneck Tech growls and barks:
    August 7, 2012 at 11:58

    LC Ogggre
    Curiosity didn’t kill the cat, apparently.
    LC Cheapshot911, Dept. of Redneck Tech recently posted..

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  26. 26
  27. 27
    LC LOBO growls and barks:
    August 7, 2012 at 16:58

    LC Cheapshot911, Dept. of Redneck Tech @ #:
    Curiosity cannot kill Basement Cat.

  28. 28
    LC LOBO growls and barks:
    August 7, 2012 at 17:40

    Jackson-Lee’s only qualification for sitting on the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics was the space between her ears. She visited JPL and asked if the Mars Rover would be able to show “the flag the astronauts planted there before”. Staffers were reportedly surprised that she didn’t complain about cost overruns on the Death Star.

    How in the fuck is this idiot STILL breathing ?? Words fail me.