Sometimes, We Live in the Future

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By Gareth Branwyn
Posted 2012/08/05 @ 10:06 pm
Category Science

Download the MSL Entry, Descendent, and Landing app and fly down with Curiosity (using real telemetry data from the MSL and computer simulation of the descent).
MSL Page on JPL
And watch NASA TV on your PC.

Sometimes we live in the future.

BY Gareth Branwyn

Gareth Branwyn is a freelancer writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture, including the first book about the web (Mosaic Quick Tour) and the Absolute Beginner's Guide to Building Robots. He is currently working on a best-of collection of his writing, called Borg Like Me.

In the Maker Shed

Makey Makey Standard Kit

Calculator Kit from Spikenzie Labs

Arduino Uno Rev 3 (Make SMD Version)

Brooklyn Aerodrome Flying Wing Kit

8 Responses to Sometimes, We Live in the Future

johngineer on August 5th, 2012 at 11:04 pm said:

Oh man, the last 45 minutes have been absolutely thrilling. I love it when a bold, fresh plan comes together!

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Gareth Branwyn on August 5th, 2012 at 11:11 pm said:

What a nail biter. I thought I might need sedation. Can you imagine what the Curiosity team was going through? All of your years of work and wait could be over in minutes. And I like how we managed to land ON TIME. Science and human ingenuity rock!

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FredB on August 6th, 2012 at 6:41 am said:

Earth attacks! Laser armed nuclear robot invades Mars.

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- Bob Alexander on August 6th, 2012 at 6:54 am said:
  
  I’m struck by how similar Curiosity is to H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds in reverse. In the book, the Martians had machines with deadly heat rays. Now, we’ve sent a machine with a deadly heat ray to Mars.
  
  I imagine all those little Martian bacteria running and screaming as the giant unstoppable machine burns its way across their land.
  
  Reply ↓
Bob Alexander on August 6th, 2012 at 6:51 am said:

“Sometimes we live in the future”: or maybe sometimes we just underestimate the present.

I’ve been sitting on Earth hearing about NASA putting men on the moon since 1969, and landing probes on Mars since 1976. I might – MIGHT – experience an orbital flight before I die. But I long ago gave up hope of going to the moon.

We’re not living in the future. We have no manned space flight, we’re landing robot probes on another world, and we’re dreaming of going there someday. It’s more akin to the mid 1960s than to Star Trek.

We’re living in the past.

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