They entered the room like rock stars coming back onstage for an encore, or like heroes returning from a war.
The leaders of the team that put NASA's huge Curiosity rover safely on the surface of Mars received a raucous and lengthy standing ovation as they filed in for a post-landing press conference here at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Sunday night (Aug. 5).
The excitement was understandable, for the team had just pulled off an unprecedented, daring and nerve-wracking touchdown on the Red Planet. In a maneuver that had never been attempted before on another world, a rocket-powered sky crane lowered the 1-ton rover to the Martian surface on cables, then flew off to crash-land intentionally a safe distance away.
After things settled down, NASA chief Charles Bolden said a few stirring and patriotic words, as did White House science adviser John Holdren, who conveyed President Obama's congratulations on a job well done. [1st Images of Mars from Curiosity Rover (Video)]
Landing Curiosity successfully "was by any measure the most challenging mission ever attempted in the history of robotic planetary exploration," Holdren said. "So congratulations again, and long live American Curiosity!"
A big ditto to that! Congratulations to NASA for a job well done! To read more, click here.