The Landing of the Mars Curiosity Rover

On Sunday, August 5, 2012, we will attempt to land on another world.

Whether this mission succeeds or fails, it represents our best shot.  This mission is the product of our brightest minds and our most talented scientists and engineers.  Sometimes I worry that the current popularity of science fiction has falsely elevated society's comfort zone, made us complacent to the complexities of actually landing on another world.  Nothing that is about to occur is easy, in fact, as a trained aerospace engineer I assure you that this is one of the most challenging endeavors ever attempted by the human race.  It is a hundred magnitudes more difficult than designing a new iPhone or Xbox.  It actually illustrates the triviality of such things.  

In a time of horrific human tragedies, events such as this elevate my faith in the human race.  

If, tragically, this attempt should fail, my faith in the human race will still be elevated. It still illustrates how we, as a species, can look beyond ourselves and aspire to be more than we are.  We gave it our best shot because we had to, we had an instinctive need to look beyond what we have become and dream of things larger and more significant than ourselves. Could Mars have been suitable to harbor life in the past? Is there a chance we are not alone in the Universe? Is there a chance we are part of something bigger?  Curiosity, Mars Science Laboratory, can help answer those questions. It is as curious as we have designed it to be.

Watch the landing of Curiosity. Stay up late, be tired on Monday, tell your coworkers that you cared about one of the greatest human endeavors ever attempted.

Robert Riberia
08/04/2012

On the other hand, a few years ago Steve the Cat made it seem pretty easy... ;-)