Who's going to be watching the Mars Curiosity coverage real time?

[mr saddo]

well. i woke up 6 ,20 ish put lap top on watched some people sat there in mission control, no voume on has i dint want to wake the WIFE, at 6.30am there was a lot of clapping and hugging and shaking of hands, that went on for half hour!!!! so i presumed all had gone well!! oh and a picture was on there large screen, nothing to write home about, i thought. i remember the viking lander when it went there, when i was a kid. Sorry not very exciting i thought this curiosity thing.

[Richardisgreat]

For me the exitment is not just the fact that they got there or the photos it sent back, but how they did it and the fact it actually worked. Like the moon landings its not just the fact they landed man on the moon, but when they did it! lets be honest i bet there is more processing power in our mobile phones than they had on the lunar lander. And on top of that they returned them back to earth afterwards, in 1969!!! Thats awsome im sorry.

[Ags]

What a happy day! It seemed so unlikely that the rover would land in one piece.

[Sp@ce_d]

This is one of the most amazing pictures I have ever seen! So much achievement summed up in one picture.

Yes I think it's iconic.. got to be alongside the Earthrise shot from the Apollo 8 mission for me... that blew me away as a kid. To actually see this today.. arriving on another world. I'm still buzzing from this morning... what an achievement, space exploration has just had one hell of a boost into the 21st century. This really has given me hope of seeing a manned mission in my lifetime.

[r3i]

This is one of the most amazing pictures I have ever seen! So much achievement summed up in one picture.

That's a fantastic picture - the MRO is becoming a dab-hand at this, it captured a similar image of the Phoenix lander's descent back in 2008: http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/phoenix-descent.php

[PreludeToADream]

The picture by the MRO is fantastic. It's become my new computer wallpaper.

(Sorry if this has already been posted) Footage captured by Curiosity as it descended:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=149974611

[camoscato]

Another pic of Curiosity taken by the MRO. Shows the parachute, heat shield, etc.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/08/mro-curiosity-family/

[r3i]

Another pic of Curiosity taken by the MRO. Shows the parachute, heat shield, etc.

http://www.wired.com...riosity-family/

Fascinating image - I wonder if NASA will send Curiosity to have a more detailed look at any of the components as they did with Opportunity when it visited its heatshield: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2005-001 and http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20050111a.html

[neil phillips]

I actually sat there on a few occasions watching the time clock going down ( sad i know ) watched the control room wating for news. I knew there was a time delay, but when one comment was made its actually on the surface now. It took me by surprise, and i thought. How could i be forgetting the time delay. Then the thought occured its either smashed on the surface already. Or great things will be coming. I so hoped it was the latter thought. Sure enough i thought i saw a technition smile in the control room at the back, a shout was let out. Then screams clapping and jumping. Yep theyve done it i knew. A great feeling. A image pops up. A rather sad one. But i knew that that didnt matter. It was the surface of gale crater. Heres the proof it was safely on the ground and seeing the surface. WOW

I cant wait to see the highest resolution 360 colour panorama that will be coming. The tones and textures of mount sharp will be quite different to the over stretched BW images that have been released so far. Im betting it will be truely awe inspiring when it finally arrives. We need to give them time to do all there checks. They know they have done the hard part. they know they will be getting all there presents in the coming months. And they are protecting there baby. Making sure it all goes according to plan. Its the right thing to do. But i bet they cant wait either. Congratulations to the team at Nasa. History in the making well done Nasa.