(original "Martian Chronicles" cover art by Micheal Whelan, slightly modified by me)
- Oh the horror of the Evil Gummint shown to be doing something complex and worthwhile live on TV in front of the whole world.
- Candlelight vigil for temple shooting victims on one channel. Landing on Mars on another. An apt koan of our astonishing, tragic species.
- Am watching the #curiosity landing on an NBC affiliate. What do they mean by "Neil Armstrong is coming down the ladder now"?
- Somebody please say "Fido! Go! Guido? Go!"
- Love that the speed of light (transmission delay) does not allow for any leaks or damnfool speculation.
- Having renewed our lease to the Red Planet, we have become the Martians.
- A triumph of car elevator technology!
- NBC breaking away from coverage of the 1996 Olympics to discuss #Curiosity's tragic childhood.
- Too bad all those #Curiosity engineers and scientists have stinky "government" jobs instead of awesome "real" jobs.
6 comments:
Looking at the size of that thing (!wow! weighs a full, actual TON), all I could think is, great, we finally managed to park an SUV on another planet... U! S! A! U! S! A!! U! S! A!!!
(Forgive my brief moment of cynicism/sarcasm - this was indeed an awesome event, a momentous achievement. FTR I've been an avid, ardent space exploration fan since hearing Neil Armstrong's famous words [live? rebroadcast? I no longer remember] at a very young age - and am in fact a bigger fan of unmanned/robotic space exploration than manned, for a myriad of reasons I can elaborate at some future time.)
-Mike from CA
From the picture it appears that the landing was chosen to coincide with the Martians own Olympics.
We may be able to send our technology to other planets but they seem to be able to pole vault 30 meters!
John Puma
Government *plus* science... double stinky!
We should probably leak the news that Mars is filled with $1.30/gallon gasoline, and the exhaust only kills brown people. NASA would then have no problem with funding.
Curiosity lands on Mars. And the book Grapes of Wrath. That's what's been on my mind.
In chapter 14 Steinbeck talks of the yearning, the hunger within Man to build - a wall, a house, a dam - and in building beyond his single needs, to emerge ahead of just the accomplishment itself. The furthering of the collective "we" rather than the greedy selfish "I."
I saw those nerds in their matching blue polo shirts crying tears of joy, and my heart soared with them. I remember (in black and white, on our old Zenith) their predecessors in short sleeved white shirts and pocket protectors - joyous as we landed on the moon. Walter Cronkite removing those thick glasses and holding back tears as Apollo 11 touched down.
Growing up, the space program was emblematic of what the government - the collective "we" - could accomplish. The freeways that Ike built across the entire country. Opposed by special interests and the wealthy. FWIW, the world's first expressway was in 1908 on Long Island. Built by Wall Street financiers and industry titans so they - and those who could afford the toll - could go from Wall Street to the Hamptons. Ever wonder why the word "free" in freeway?
Yes, Steinbeck wrote of man's collective accomplishment and desire to achieve. But the main thrust was the battle between the we and the I. The collective good of all people, versus the divisive selfish needs of the few. Curiosity was a bittersweet reminder of what we can accomplish as a society.
For the last 30 years the proponents of the philosophy of greed (Steinbeck's "I") have been winning. As a people we should dream and demand grand things from our government. Energy independence? Goddamn right, find a way to do it. Take 10 or 20 years. Get it done. Universal health care, education for all, universal internet access for whole country. These are things for the government to do, for "we the people," not waiting for a corporation to find a way to make a buck.
"Koan"-- cool word! thanks. You are so much more interesting to read when you get off the Bobo treadmill.
Brooks sucks. We get it. Let's hear other stuff from ya.
Peace!
watching this land on Mars is interesting & from a scientific point of view very interesting but I understand that a number of major American cities need their sewer systems rebuilt or the next time there is a huge rain storm there could be some problems.
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