So, ummm, this may sound obvious to some, but sending a robot to mars which then tweets pictures from the red planet in almost real-time, which I can then view on my phone is possibly the height of technological awesomeness. I feel like this should be a bigger story than it is. In case you missed it, NASA’s Curiosity Rover safely landed on Mars 3 days ago. During its descent it tweeted its progress:
Guided entry is begun. Here I go! #MSL
Parachute deployed! Velocity 900 mph. Altitude 7 miles. 4 minutes to Mars!
I’m safely on the surface of Mars. GALE CRATER I AM IN YOU!!!
Shortly after it began tweeting pictures including this image of its shadow in front of a 3 mile-high martian mountain.
NASA Curiosity Photo
Me & My Shadow… & Mount Sharp. My view of the 3-mile-high mountain in the middle of Mars’ Gale crater
And the latest is this still image from what apparently is a yet to be released high-res video of the descent to the martian surface.
Curiosity Rover Heat Shield
You can follow the latest @MarsCuriosity
