Be informed

source: nasa.gov

What a contrast between the noise of the Olympics and the awesome team achievement of getting the Mars Rover safely onto the Martian surface, first with a parachute and then with rockets. And then get some pictures of the planet before breakfast. The seven minutes of terror proved anything but. Though images from NASA’s control room showed the tension.

Breathtaking.

Let’s do the math: Mars Rover £1.5billion; Olympics: £9billion. That’s about six Rovers for an Olympics. Legacy…let’s see, but I suspect the science will endure in a way the Olympics will not. Plus, if we talk about inspiring a generation, surely Mars/planetary exploration tops running fast?

And here is the image taken from a satellite of the craft decending to the surface being slowed by the largest parachute ever used in a space programme.