Much have I imagined the arcing vaults of space,
And many fiery launches and cold orbits seen;
Round the darksided moon have I been,
And raised a flag above Tranquility base.
Oft on one Red Planet would I place
Dreams of deep-brow'd Bradbury's Morning Green
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I saw Curiosity gaze upon our brother's face:
Then felt I like some sentinel in strange skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like those at JPL, when the Curiosity's eyes
Delivered them an image through the stars,
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise--
"All green" upon the dusty plains of Mars.
(Apologies to Keats. who would understand)
Obama science advisor demonstrates ignorance of space history?
Can't find a recording/transcript yet, but White House Science & Technology Advisor John Holdren said something on the NASA live stream to the effect that no other country had put a lander on another planet. This was shortly after the landing- not in the later briefing at 2:15am EDT.
There's talk about it on Twitter. Seems worth highlighting when confirmation of the exact wording is available...
Posted by: Joe at August 6, 2012 12:13 AMGlad to hear it landed OK - there were a lot of people saying the whole get up was too complicated.
Keats had better apologise: To Balboa - who by most accounts was not a very understanding individual.
Once knew a bird who went to Darien as an AFS exchange student. She said things were still pretty wild there.
Kinch - The way I heard it, many people still think the setup was too complicated although it might have been the only way with a chance of working. NASA got away with it, that's all.
Posted by: Fletcher Christian at August 6, 2012 11:51 AMWow, not bad.... Not bad at all.
My dad had me memorize "On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer" for an 8th grade poetry recital. I can still recite it from memory.
Thanks, Dad.
And thank you, Gerard.
Keats would love it.
Posted by: Sarah Rolph at August 7, 2012 8:17 AM
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