Touchdown!!!
It was a perfect landing, perfect touchdown and aligned perfectly to maximise the sunlight received by the solar arrays, and on perfectly flat groun (only 1/4 of a degree tilt!).
When the mission commander (I think that was hit title!) was asked by the interview “Could it have possibly gone any better” he said:
“Not in my wildest dreams. I’m in shock…never even in rehearsal did it go this well.”
“[after] 5 years…it is [such a relief]. … We never knew for sure. We have the best team in the world…I can’t be more proud of them than I am now.”
Peter Smith, the principal investigator, said “I was right to be optimistic. This team performed perfectly. Did you see that thing just zoom down and touch?”
I was only watching and I was tense! Of course, they’re not completely out of the woods - they’ve still got to deploy the various pieces of equipment and sensors, in particular the solar arrays, but the hardest part was a success! We won’t know for about an hour and a half what happens next - so keep checking NASA for updates!
New to your blog, but been a fan of your “Once Upon a Thesis Dreary” for several years… I’m delighted to see that you have a blog! I’m subscribed!
So, being new here, I scrolled through a bunch of recent articles, and came to this one. What’s it about? I’ve gotta guess it was the Mars Lander, because the timing and the intense description both sound quite right, but nowhere have you mentioned Mars… I’m sure, in the excitement of it, this was just an oops?
Also, check out twitter.com/MarsLander for a cute “first-person perspective” of what the lander is up to on Mars. And if you’re on twitter, feel free to add me! I’m twitter.com/Qrystal.