Curiosity from Mars Orbiter!

by Salman Hameed

This an awesome image! Here is a picture of Curiosity, with its parachute open, on its way down to the Martian surface. The image is taken by a camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:

And of course, you must have seen some of the first images from Curiosity. If not, here is one of the left rear wheel of the rover. And the Sun, as usual, is spoiling the picture.

Here is a description from the Curiosity website:

It was taken through a "fisheye" wide-angle lens on the left "eye" of a stereo pair of Hazard-Avoidance cameras on the left-rear side of the rover. The image is one-half of full resolution. The clear dust cover that protected the camera during landing has been sprung open. Part of the spring that released the dust cover can be seen at the bottom right, near the rover's wheel. 

It was great to follow the information about the landing live on NASA TV. But even better would have been to watch it at Times Square in New York (image from NBC News):

Now we should patiently wait in the coming months for the results from Curiosity.

But when are we sending humans to Mars? In 2030s? Well, the food preparation may have already started, but it is still way too far off :(