Thrilled about the Martian landing?
(No, not here. There. You know. The Red Planet!)
Are you planning on tuning in to CNN tonight – late – or to NASA?
What’s not to love about pure science? Space exploration in search of life? And to Mars at that?
All sarcasm aside, I am still enamored of space exploration, not to mention the pursuit of those “big questions” to better understand our universe and ourselves.
Who doesn’t remember My Favorite Martian – if not the original series in the 1960s with Ray Walston, then in syndication or possibly the movie version? And if you’re French, perhaps you recall Henri Salvador whose incarnation of dancing and singing martians is wonderfully wacky?
Maybe you prefer the Sesame Street version of a Mars Landing… on Earth?
As a kid, I couldn’t get enough Isaac Asimov and then, Star Trek. And I still recall the excitement of the lunar landing in July 1969, though I was a child at the time. I realize those were very different days, but for some of us, landing a robot on Mars after eight months in space and some ten years of work is too. cool. for. words.
Are you curious about the ship known as “Curiosity” and what the scientists are calling 7 minutes of terror, waiting to see if the rover will land safely or crash?
I’ll be tuning in tonight – to CNN or NASA (streaming the landing live, I believe). What about you?
Image of Le Martien from Youtube; click to access Youtube video.
© D. A. Wolf
Definitely tuning in, the animation video of the landing shows how delicate the landing will be, everything has to go right. There have been one or two Mars probes that went MIA, I hope this one goes according to plan. Four hours to go…
The television series My Favorite Martian ran from 1963 to 1966. The majority of people, if familiar at all with the title, would only know it from the movie remake of 1999. I, however, am old enough to remember the first steam-driven television sets.
I’m reading. -wb 🙂
Steam-driven, Mr. Belle! Thoroughly fascinating! (I hope you watched the Le Martien video. Three French speaking green-clad gentlemen with antennae, singing and dancing on what may well be a steam-driven entertainment box.)
I loved My Favorite Martian! And while watched Star Trek, I found the first three Star Wars more entertaining. While I think it’s fascinating, space exploration is a little lost on me because I’m not sure we’ll ever find what we’re really looking for out there. But, the space industry has given us countless advances in our daily lives for which I’m very thankful.
I wish I’d had one of those steam-powered sets. Ours was a ten-inch black and white in a huge box with vacuum tubes.