I teared up a bit.

I have a video response processing through YouTube as we speak.

We have a one-ton car currently touching the surface of Mars. That ridiculously far ball of rock. Goddammit, that's fucking awesome.

(after Zarban's speech, I think I have nothing more to say for the time being)

EDIT : Okay, a bit more.

Today, it has been proved what mankind is capable of. This is the exact kind of things we need to focus on. Knowledge. Curiosity. That's what this is all about. Discovering, exploring the universe surrounding us. I have never been more into astronomy than I am today.

This mission gives me a hint of all that is yet to come. I feel sad knowing that tons of amazing discoveries will be made after I kick the bucket, but when I see how fast spacecraft technologies evolve and space knowledge grows, I truly think the next decades will bring us things we don't even expect yet.

God, I love our universe.

Last edited by Saniss (2012-08-06 09:08:43)

Before we get too carried away, we did all this (and a lot more) in the 1970s. Viking was TWO craft (similar mass to MSL) that rocketed down to the surface of Mars, both successful, and both lasted a long time. And they were looking for life. 35 years ago.

MSL has the advantage of being mobile, but it's only one and it's more a geologist/chemist than a life-detection mission.

That's to take nothing away from an absolutely awe-inspiring feat of engineering, but in the 1960/70s, there was even more ambition and scale.

Think of how many Curiosity rovers we could have got for the cost of the F-22 Raptor program (a fighter jet that never flew and is now cancelled, at a cost of $67 billion)... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_M … -22_Raptor

I should have added "once again". Amazing space stuff has been made several times before, but it just doesn't get old. I mean, they sent a fucking robot to Mars. Damn.

Last edited by Saniss (2012-08-06 11:52:54)

But this isn't just Viking with wheels. NASA has sent a whole laboratory up there this time and is going to do some serious science. I think they have very specific suspicions about where life—or evidence of what was once life—may be and are going after it.

Ok, I'm sorry but being a non-American and one who is not really interested in the whole space thing, I needed something else to inspire me-

Despite my non interest in space exploration, I stayed up all night to watch  the Mars landing. Why? Because I needed too. There is so much bad shit happening in the world, I needed something else that was positive, something else to convince me there is something worth it in life. Something 'else'. I hear you ask. Well, I'll get to that in a minute and stop being so bloody impatient. First, I wish to address those who,last night, gave the finger to the UK and 'their' Olympics because the US landed on Mars. Again. Now, I wasn't aware there was a pissng competition in play or indeed that the two situations are comparable in the least. America has held the Olympics too, you know, I'm sure there was a lot of pride then as well. Anyway, my point isn't to scold anyone, my point is this- on Saturday night I (someone who doesn't care about sports) found myself watching the Olympics. Why? Because something special was happening.....

You see, it was on Saturday, Team GB did something spectacular, we actually won a total of six Gold medals in one day. Who cares, you may think, we landed on Mars, bitch! And to that I say, can't both be awesome achievments? You see, it's doesn't matter what nationality you are, this is the sort of shit, we humans should excell at- being fucking awesome! Whether it is winning Gold medals and breaking sporting records or sending a craft and a rover into space, they are all proof that we can do more than just bitch, moan and complain all the time.

And this brings me to my main point. One of the winners of Gold on Saturday was Jessica Ennis, a young woman who works hard at her chosen vocation in life and broke her personal records in three events and got a Gold medal out of it. This girl is seemingly a nice lass who has never been in the tabloids for getting a boob job or for having a sex tape, she gets in the news for believing in herself and doing her best at what she does. That is the type of person our kids should look up to, that is the type of role model young girls should have. Not these vapid wastes of space that get their faces worked on every month and who have their own reality shows. I came to this conclusion this morning when I was watching the NASA video and I saw the women working in the control room. This is the sort of shit, we should be aspiring to, be it excelling at sports or being part of something special and amazing as space exploration. It can be done. Sure, we have 'been' to Mars before, but who's to say we can't go a bit further in the future? We are human, dammit! We can find a way.

So, in conclusion, I not only felt pretty damn proud to be a Brit this weekend, I also felt pretty damn proud to be a human being non-stop. We are capable of so much and more but we should be proud of any of us who achieve something extraordinary no matter how insignificant it feels at the time. Jessica Ennis, Mo Farrah (who kids should aspire to be like too)and all those brilliant NASA folk proved to me this weekend that there is hope yet, that the human race can still bring the goods and cause us to shout 'fuck yeah!' and have some pride in ourselves and what we can accomplish.

Jimmy, out!

Thanks, man. And indeed, we should have more pride in ourselves instead of this bullshit worship of people who have achieved nothing. And, yeah, including Tim Berners-Lee in the ceremony was excellent, especially as a lot of people would have been using the internet to actually watch the ceremony....

I was lucky enough to see Curiosity on the pad at KSC, and watch it launch from just a few yards away from the iconic countdown clock.  Now it's there, on Mars.  That's pretty damn cool.