A bit outside of our normal technology coverage, but still worthy of mentioning for all the technology lovers out there:
Early on Monday, 6 August (or late Sunday, 5 August, depending on your particular time zone), scientists at NASA saw hard work pay off yet again as their latest excursion through the vast wonders of space touched down on Mars. The aptly named Curiosity rover may not have landed flawlessly, but all its systems ensured that the overall event would be a success.
After the expected touchdown time, people at the helm of the controls held their breath--along with countless fans around the world--as they waited fourteen minutes for the first confirmation that Curiosity had indeed survived its descent through the thin atmosphere on the neighboring planet. (Fourteen minutes is the approximate data transmission time for the data from the rover to get back to Earth). The first thing received from the machine? Well, see its Twitter update: http://twitter.com/MarsCuriosity/status/232351189826678785 Also on tap? Another quirky 256-by-256 pixel photograph of one of its wheels. Shortly thereafter, it shared a few other images representing its first look around the surface, with higher-resolution images appearing later in the day.
Worth noting is that Curiosity has its own verified Twitter page under the @MarsCuriosity account as well as a Facebook page, from which it shared many stages of its journey up to that point. Of course the rover didn't do the posts by itself (it had a helping hand from its creators), but anyone watching either page could find themselves immersed in what just a century ago was thought to be impossible, through a medium faster than most anything available in the past.
Curiosity marks the seventh rover sent to Mars, following Mars 2 & Mars 3, Sojourner, Beagle 2, Spirit, and Opportunity. Of the prior six, Curiosity joins only Opportunity as a functioning rover still communicating with scientists on Earth. Images from Curiosoty can be viewed at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/gallery-indexEvents.html, along with more information on the goals of the rover and the program in general.
With such technology proving we, as humans, are capable of making some great machinery, and with the Internet providing us nearly direct access to information on the space programs, it appears we really are living in the future. Maybe our homes have yet to feel like an episode of the Jetsons, but if technology truly trickles down from the scientists to consumers, it will not be long before we see more and more of tomorrow appearing today.
