Anyway, the most impressive thing this afternoon to come from Mars was a little animated video taken from the rover just after the heat shield dropped away exposing the camera all the way down to the surface. Notice the dust cloud in the circular pattern as the sky crane engine exhaust hit the surface. The wheel can be seen appearing like "landing gear" as the rover landed on the surface. So next we'll see these same photos in 1600x1200 resolution! So if I have already fallen out of my chair seeing these, where to I fall when it gets better? The rover hasn't even moved yet!
I had a feeling that the NASA site would have probably gotten bogged down to hardly a slideshow, so I attended the landing party at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. They expected maybe 200 people to show up, but then there was over 600. Theater was packed, lobby was packed and they had to open the theater in the main gallery so everyone could get a view. Loud cheering, screaming and and excitement when the landing announcement was made. I'm sure the museum crowd could have out-screamed the JPL crew! Very exciting to see, and yes, the last 7 minutes were very tense and terrifying hoping the thing wouldn't add a new crater. Wow.
At midnight I finally headed home relieved and excited to see what would show up the next morning. Such fun!
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