It Took Christopher Columbus And Alan Sheppard To Put NASA On Mars: The Curiosity Rover Has Landed

Congratulations to the entire presence; past, present and future of NASA! During this age of technological successes, the downsizing of the American Dream and the daily drama of Reality TV; everything snagged in between might have clouded over your wakeup call totally keeping you away from the most extraordinary news since the first Space Shuttle launch of 1981. At 1:31 a.m. Eastern time on Monday August 6, 2012, NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover completed its eight-and-a-half-month journey from Earth to land on the surface of Mars. Why so much noise? 70% of the attempts to put manmade objects on the surface of the Red Planet have failed. The Associate Administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate John Grunsfield was empowered to tell the world, "I want you to look around tonight. All those folks with the blue shirts, and think about what we've achieved. I think it's fair to say that NASA knows how to explore. We've been exploring, and we're on Mars," Again... The United States of America has taken one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. Recent headlines have poured out of Russia, China, Japan and other smaller nations on how their deeper pockets and rockets have raced toward continued space play inside the International Space Station Participation from the U.S. had been limited to our space program instantly becoming a "Used To Be." "Tonight, on the planet Mars, the United States of America made history."—President Obama — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 6, 2012 "I congratulate and thank all the men and women of NASA who made this remarkable accomplishment a reality."—President Obama — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 6, 2012 I can't help but wonder what Rush Limbaugh will be billowing out of his cigar stained smokestacks today, "Why does exploring the red dirt of Mars sit so high in national priority inside an economic society that can't find its way out of the worst recession since the Great Depression?" Naysayer's have good reason to ignite a fight; The Curiosity Rover cost tax payers $2.5 Billion. It's only mission: Locate physical evidence of how Mars can, will or might sustain life now, anytime in the past or deep into the future. If I were the spokesperson I would've said, "70% of the time you were right in questioning our reasons for wanting to put faith in this nations continuation in space. 70% of the time costly human error or unexpected malfunctions stole from the winds expected to fill the digitally designed sails set free to unveil the undiscovered. 70% of our admitted failures might have seemed like reasons to invest less in our efforts to grow forward and we believe you had good reason to set behind the ambitions of computer geeks and stargazers. But what "you" saw...is not what we've seen. The universe is not flat. Nor do we believe the heartfelt ambition, dedication, determination and loyalty of Alan Sheppard, John Glenn, Neal Armstrong and Sally Ride and everyone in between and long after will remain silent in the annals of American history. This nation was built on exploration. Settlers arrived by boats lucky enough to survive torrential downpours and hurricane force challenges to put footprints in the sands that make up North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York. What if 70% of their failed attempts had halted the dreams of locating a Freedom of Speech and Religion? Where would the world have raced to be recognized as a voice inside a people called nation? The Curiosity Rover was designed to locate life. To reach Mars on August 6, 2012 wasn't a modern man or woman's destination of thinking but several generations of endless passion to never stop exploring. Everything you touch today was created by someone willing to explore. If the only thing NASA does today is to inspire someone to believe that a simple thought has ability to change the world; don't steal from the person that might have been born to cure cancer, heart disease, Parkinson's disease and anything else that keeps every person on earth from reaching out to hold their moment of discovery. I will always believe in you first... arroe@arroe.net