Tag Archives: Mars Curiosity

360º Panorama of NASA JPL Mission Control

This is a 360º panorama of one of the Mission Control rooms at NASA JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab). I visited JPL in August and was thrilled to be in the rooms where history has been made. Click through and use your mouse to rotate the room to see everything. Notice the Deep Space Network relays (look for the little satellite dishes)? That’s us talking to Mars (and other planets) and getting messages in reply. Pretty cool, huh?

More pics and behind-the-scenes tidbits soon!

Mars Curiosity Landing from NASA HQ!

As many of you know, I was at the launch of Mars Curiosity in November 2011 at the #MSL #NASATweetup. So, it was particularly thrilling to have a last minute opportunity to go to NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC for the landing!

I tagged along with the amazing DC Drinkup SpaceTweeps. In addition to games of War with Space Cards and a round of #MSL Bingo that had a Meteorite as a prize, we ate Mars cupcakes and supplied the traditional peanuts for the landing.

That’s me coming through the door! The pic was taken & tweeted by Alan Ladwig, Deputy Associate Administrator for Communications – Public Outreach (NASA HQ).

The blog Tea With Lemon liveblogged the night from our NASA HQ location and did a fantastic job catching the flavor of the evening. We were so excited to be with NASA folks for the landing! Check out the post yourself!

Here’s a pic of the audience (I’ve enlarged the part with me in it, third row, but highly engrossed in the landing coverage).

We all received some great Mars Curiosity mission information & goodies–stickers, pins, comic book, and more!

Mars Curiosity: 7 Minutes of Terror (or How to Land a Rover)

This video is amazing. For those who have been following the adventures and challenges of getting the Mars Science Lab (Curiosity) to Mars, this is the next big step. I was thrilled to watch the launch of Curiosity in November during a NASATweetup (see NASAsocial for info on how you can get inside NASA).

But there is more than a mission to Mars here. This video is a window to the science, creativity, problem-solving, and incredible human team (men AND women) who work at NASA — especially NASA JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA).

Mark your calendars for Aug 5/6 (depending on which time zone you live in). The landing is anticipated at approximately 10:31 p.m. PDT Aug. 5 (1:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 6)

Curious to learn more? The Curiosity Mission page and Mars Science Lab website will get you started!