Says the Boston Globe story:
With dozens of NASA employees looking on and online viewers tuning in from across the country, engineer Allen Chen delivered two words Sunday night he won’t soon forget.
“Touchdown confirmed,” Chen announced shortly after 10:30 p.m. West Coast time, as those gathered in a Pasadena, Calif., control room burst into celebration.
Curiosity, the space program’s $2.6 billion rover, had landed on Mars.
The touchdown capped an eight-month flight and a decade of work for Chen, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who led the team responsible for landing the rover.
Wow, Allen Chen must be pretty awesome, huh? OH, YOU HAVE NO IDEA:
HAHAHAHAHA THAT'S RIGHT! The Flight Dynamics and Operations Lead for the Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent, and Landing team- the donkey who announced Curiosity's successful landing ON FARGLING MARS- is a member of Donkey Nation!
brb high-fiving myself for the next five hours.
You should try to interview him, ZWR!
ReplyDeleteGet Awesome Emma to talk to him about astrophysics and ice cream.
ReplyDeleteFARGLE BARGLE!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely need to get Awesome Emma on this. A Skype chat with her reporting with a background of Mars (or Total Recall Mars) or something. Congrats, that is hilarious!
ReplyDeleteNo, seriously, he just high-fived himself 4 times in a row.
ReplyDeleteI feel smarter because I like the same thing as a smart person.
ReplyDeleteBet there's a tshirt in this.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome. Watched Chen when Curiosity was streamed live on air the other night. He lit up the commentary with a lot of insightful info when it happened and held his composure really well despite the intensity of the situation. (Unlike the Phils' LOLBullpen earlier this year).
ReplyDeleteNo way! REALLY?! Does he have some connection to Philly?!
ReplyDeleteYup - I'm from Newtown/Washington Crossing.
ReplyDeleteSCIENCE - ZOOS - MARS - DONKEYS - SPACESHIPS - SO SMUTTERED CUTTERED AND DICED!
ReplyDeleteOH SNAP - Mr. Chen, $5 bucks says you won't use Curiosity to carve a Phillies 'P' into the Martian soil - forever claiming the red planet for the Phillies. $5. That's a meal at Wendy's dude. DO IT.
ReplyDeleteI'll toss in another five spot and naming rights to my first-born (pending approval from my future wife).
ReplyDeleteThey don't let me drive, probably because I'm Asian (just kidding!).
ReplyDeleteThe best we could do is carve with rocket plumes. Like the Descent Stage pointing back at the rover so we could see it from space (hey guys - look over there ---> ): http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/?ImageID=4296
and
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/?ImageID=4299
And with this, Al Chen has won the internet... forever. Cue Dirk....
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gev_Phjl764
your reach extends to mars.
ReplyDeletego ahead and make it 6 hours.