The night before landing, however, Neil deGrasse Tyson and the Curiosity Rover shared an EPIC conversation over Twitter:
Feeling the tug of Mars: Fewer than 34 hours to go, Mars' gravity is pulling me in for a suspenseful landing http://t.co/hsDLEW4l
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Call me, maybe? All the ways I could phone home after landing on Mars [video] http://t.co/IiqrN6LW
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
When I land on Mars, it'll be 5:31 UTC Aug. 6. See this handy chart for conversion to your time zone: http://t.co/7zJ6Z2vw
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Mars on my mind...Thinking of forging a wormhole through the Twitterverse and having a conversation with the Rover en route.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
The day we stop exploring is the day we commit ourselves to live in a stagnant world, devoid of curiosity, empty of dreams.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, Neil deGrasse Tyson here on Earth, tweeting you, via a wormhole, through deep space. Do you copy?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
<wormhole actived!> Dear @neiltyson I read you loud and clear. 5x5
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, How does it feel out there as you near planet Mars? Are you Cold? Hot? Or just right?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, I'm snug as a bug in a backshell. My MMRTG gives power & heat. So much so, I use radiators to keep temps just right
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, What exactly is giving power to your Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, MMRTG is powered by plutonium-238. I use thermocouples to convert heat from its natural decay to electric current
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, just as I suspected. An element named after Pluto. Discovered when everyone thought the little iceball was a planet.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, for being millions of miles away it's faster than say... some TV broadcasts from London to Los Angeles ;-)
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, What's the size of your landing spot on Mars? Is it small? It's a whole planet, I'd be happy just to land anywhere.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, target area is 12 miles x 4 miles, right next door to some of Mars' most intriguing rocks & soil
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, Wait a minute. You travelled a 100-million miles in space & hit an area 12x4 miles? Cool. Way better than a hole-in-one
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, You call EDL 7-minutes of terror. Sure, to you. But to us on Earth, it's 7 minutes + 15 minutes signal time.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, Are all your parts working as they should? Anything you're not telling us back here on Earth? (I won't tell JPL.)
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, all that's been checked out, checks out. Got a lot of calibrations & checkouts to do once I'm on the surface
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, You've been traveling for nine months. How did you pass your time? Did they let you play "Angry Birds Space"?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, epic game of "I Spy," lots of Bowie. Well, that and science. I took radiation readings with my RAD instrument
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, So you're being subjected to ionizing radiation from space? You're not only a robot, you're a guinea pig.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, Did you enjoy long periods of silence while travelling through space, or was JPL always trying to talk to you?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, They respected my space (ha ha). I love hearing from the Deep Space Network, tho. It keeps me grounded
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, How autonomous are you? When you get to Mars can you just go six-wheeling around as you please?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, while I can do short autonomous drives, longer sequences are sent by the team. Wonder if they'll let me do donuts?
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, What's your favorite experiment that you will conduct on Mars? Or is that like picking your favorite child?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, Pick between sniffing Mars with SAM, digesting soil with Chemin or zapping rocks with ChemCam?? #TooMuchAwesome
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, Scientists conceived you, engineers designed you. But seriously, who do you like better, Scientists or Engineers?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, Scientists v Engineers? I'm staying out of that one. We've all gotta work together for a lonnnng time
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, After you land on Mars, what's your life expectancy? (I hope somebody alerted you that we're not bringing you back.)
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
''
Dear @neiltyson, My warranty is 1 Martian year (23 Earth months). @MarsRovers were designed for 90-day missions... #8yearslater
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, You're the size of an SUV, but with six wheels. What's the fastest that you can move?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, Top speed = 1.5 inches/sec on flat, hard ground. I'm not out to set Mars land speed records. I brake for science
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, Bummer. You travel through space at seven miles per second, only to drive around on Mars at 1.5 inches per second.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, What are your instructions if a Martian crawls onto your back and rides you like a Rodeo Bull?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, Martians? RODEO BULL? That wasn't in the briefing. But you never know what you'll find on a mission of discovery
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, We've got the #Olympics back here on Earth. But many of us will be focussed on you and your landing. Do us proud.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, As for your complicated landing on Mars Sunday night 10:30pm PT -- do not try, do.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, Neil deGrasse Tyson signing out on Earth. Back to work - for us both. Closing my Twitterverse wormhole to Mars.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, I've got @NASAJPL on the other line. Back to work indeed. This was fun :D <wormhole deactivated>
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Once again, I am compelled to tweet…
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
The day we stop exploring is the day we commit ourselves to live in a stagnant world, devoid of curiosity, empty of dreams.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment