NASA’s Phoenix lander made if safely to the Martian surface and sent back its first images this evening. Since it takes over 10 minutes for the signal to get back to earth, you’re actually watching events that have already taken place. Still it’s pretty amazing just how well the landing went. The first images included some interesting shots of the local landscape. I love that in this connected age, the images were literally up on the Phoenix site minutes after they came down from the spacecraft.
NASA – Phoenix lander to set down Sunday
NASA’s Phoenix probe is set to land on the surface of Mars on Sunday around 8:00p EST. The lander will be setting down in a polar region. The last probe to attempt that crashed. Let’s hope this one has better luck. The Phoenix mission is somewhat similar to the Viking mission of the 1970’s in that it is a stationary lander designed to sample the soil for signs of life, or the potential to support life. NASA will hold a briefing on NASA TV and online on Saturday and will be streaming video of the event live Sunday evening. I can’t wait!!
It’s official, we have a toddler…
I’ve been speculating for weeks that our daughter would be walking within the next week or so and tonight it happened. This is unfortunately the worst video I took, but also the only one that seemed to have been saved to the flash card on my phone. (I’ve since reformatted the card in preparation for more walking tomorrow…) Lela started off small, just a short walk like the one seen here. Within minutes she was walking from room to room without assistance and without falling. I’ve been saying she was capable, but just needed the confidence to do it. She certainly found that confidence tonight!