It’s 12:00 Midnight Staurday, and I have been watching NASA TV on satellite TV. The Spirit has landed on Mars. A signal has been returned. It will take about 15 minutes for the protective covering to deflate. Then, the solar array has to deploy. In 45 minutes or so, they could have pictures back from the red planet. Congratulations to NASA and the team at CalTech JPL. This stuff is so cool. It’s amazing what can be accomplished when we work together on a common goal. The team undoubtly felt a lot of joy and relief at their success, especially in light of the recent Beagle mission by England. While we take it for granted sometimes, there is nothing easy about this stuff.
On a related topic, did you know that you can see the International Space Station when it flies by your town? Here is the link. Cities are listed around the world.
It amazes me that a bunch of people are sitting in a tin can, whizzing around the Earth, and we can walk out into our back yard to watch them. I don’t know what it is that drives man to put himself in the most uncomfortable of situations, just so he can explore “what’s there.” We did it on sailing ships, we did it on foot, we do it with ideas. Whatever it is, it is wonderful.
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