Spacecraft survives '7minutes of terror,' lands safely, sends first pictures.
PASADENA, Calif. — After eight years of planning and eight months of interplanetary travel,NASA's Mars Science Laboratory pulled off a touchdown of Super Bowl proportions, all by itself. It even sent pictures from the goal line.
The spacecraft plunged through Mars' atmosphere, fired up a rocket-powered platform and lowered the car-sized, 1-ton Curiosity rover to its landing spot in 96-mile-wide (154-kilometer-wide)Gale Crater. Then the platform flew off to its own crash landing, while Curiosity sent out a text message basically saying, "I made it!"
That message was relayed by the orbiting Mars Odyssey satellite backto Earth. A radio telescope in Australiapicked up the message and sent it here to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When the blips of data appeared on the screens at JPL's mission control, the room erupted in cheers and hugs.
NASA TV
Because of the light-travel time between Mars and Earth, throngs of scientists and engineers — along with millions who were monitoring the action via television and the Internet — celebrated Curiosity'slanding 14 minutes after it actually occurred.
Even the engineers who drew up the unprecedented plan for the landing admitted that it looked crazy. But the plan actually worked.
Minutes after the news of the landing broke, commentator Allen Chen brought more good news:"We have thumbnails!" Odysseydelivered pictures showing the view from hazard avoidance cameras mounted on the rover.
Super Bowl pride The touchdown marked a $2.5 billion triumph for what Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, called"the Super Bowl of planetary exploration." Curiosity's primary mission is scheduled to last one full Martian year, or almost two Earth years — but scientists hope the nuclear-powered rover will keep goingfor years longer than that.
The successful landing sparked a swell of American pride for the mission team as well as for NASA and the White House. The biggest heart-swelling moment came duringa post-landing news conference, when theblue-shirted team behind Curiosity's entry, descent and landing marched through the packed auditorium and high-fived their leaders.
"EDL! EDL!" the flag-waving troop chanted, but it mightas well have been"USA! USA!"
President Barack Obama's science adviser, John Holdren, said that if anyone had any doubts about American technological leadership, "there's a one-ton, car-sized piece of American ingenuity, and it's sitting on the surfaceof Mars right now, and it certainly should put any such doubts to rest."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48511087/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/nasas-curiosity-rover-scores-touchdown-mars/?ns=technology_and_science-space

I watched it live from JPL on-line as it happened. When the first pictures came in I was thrilled. If this probe can definitively prove life was on Mars at one time I can think of three religions who will get a SOLID boot to their loins! I hope Judea, Islam, and Christianity are ready to adapt to the idea we are not living in a homocentric universe!

Don't give me none of that intelligent life stuff,
Find me something I can blow up!!

at 8:00 into the film...



http://www.amctv.com/b-movies/videos/dark-star

You are watching a serious classic there my friend!

Exactly how stupid is it to make a bomb that can think for itself?