Curiosity Is Down, and Ready to Roll (almost)!

Thank goodness the last post is now obsolete. Well, almost (see end). Amidst a tumult of shouts and cheers, the message came back to the JPL press room at 10:32 PM Pacific Time on Sunday night: Curiosity is down, all is well.

Color me surprised! Though I had confidence in the engineering, it was a daunting challenge to land the big, heavy rover on Mars. Dozens of sequences had to go just right, over a hundred pyrotechnic devices had to fire, and so forth, for the rover to complete a successful landing.

As the assembled reporters waited out the 16-minute delay from Earth to Mars, along with hundreds more at the auditorium across the JPL campus and those in mission control, all were aware that whatever we would soon know had already occurred. Either Curiosity was sitting amidst a small dust cloud on the surface of Mars, or it was scattered across a few hundred acres of Gale Crater. Fortunately, it was the former.

Relieved controllers were swamped by the press, and soon the leaders of the mission were assembled on the press dias to give their assessment of the landing. In short- we are there, we are healthy and we will soon be ready to rumble.

Within minutes the first images were in from the Hazcams, showing a murky, lo-res image of a lens cover partially askew. Later a fine image of the shadow of the rover on Martian soil was seen. All across JPL, at may other venues across Pasadena, and even the grand sweep of Times Square in Manhattan, people smiled, pumped fists and hugged one another. We had done it again. The ever-elusive notion of success on Mars was once again America's to claim.

Within two days the camera mast will be up and panoramic images will be coming down to Earth. We will, once again, see the desolation that is Mars. And soon, the biggest, most complex and capable machine ever landed on another world will begin to drive towards scientifically intriguing targets. A new round of discoveries will begin.

Of note: at JPL, the Curiosity test unit was on display. If one got close enough, one could see the slots etched in the wheels of the machine, oddly-spaced cuts in the wheel surfaces. They are Morse code that will show up in the traversed soil. The code spells out "JPL."

Good job, NASA. You have done it again. Here's to hoping that this spurs more defined plans for exploration on the planetary exploration front. Let's not squander this amazing accomplishment. It's time to renew our commitment to reaching out and exploring... now.