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The Voyage of a Life Time...

By
Industry Observer with ARFCO Media

Of all the stuff going on in our world, the thrill of the 2012 Olympics, the heartbreak of recent and senseless shootings, and all the bad news from around the planet, one of humankind’s greatest achievements just happened a few days ago when NASA managed to successfully land the largest man made craft ever on the planet Mars.

I’ve been a space geek since the very beginning. Yes I’ve been around that long and I remember October 4, 1957 when the Russians launched Sputnik. I remember the X-15, The Mercury Project, Gemini, and the Apollo missions. It really came alive for me when John Glenn orbited Earth on the Friendship 7.

My brother Steve and I were so inspired by those 3 earth orbits of the Mercury-Atlas 6, that launched on February 20, 1962, we made a spaceship out of the box our new refrigerator came in that Mom and Dad had just purchased. We practically lived in it for weeks. We made switchboards with lights, used our crystal radios, we took turns talking to each other via the walkie talkie we made from a RadioShack kit from our space capsule to other rooms in the house.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/nasas-curiosity-rover-to-land-on-mars-today/278624-2.html

We followed absolutely everything there was about space and NASA. It was a world stopping event anytime there was a lift off into space and we were eyes glued to the television for any news about it. We couldn’t get enough and to fuel our dreams of space we became avid fans of Star Trek (that aired on September 8, 1966), and almost any sci-fi series or movie after that (good or bad) that made an an attempt to hold up the idea of being out there in the last frontier.

Now, this week, I witness the Curiosity landing on Mars this past Monday. After a journey of over 8 months, traveling a little over 154 million miles, the Mars rover Curiosity entered this martian atmosphere and with only 7 minutes to go through some of the most complex choreography ever performed they came from 13,000 miles an hour to zero to land safely on the surface, and they did it! Is that not a WOW!

Radio from the rover takes 14 minutes to get from there to here, so if anything did go wrong it would be at least 7 minutes way too late to do anything about it. Yet, it went flawlessly. This is a great testament to our human purpose, aspirations, and the skills of our civilization.

http://www.space.com/17014-mars-rover-curiosity-panorama-photos.html

Humans are an insatiable curious species. We always do better when we look way beyond ourselves to the horizon and seek that which is bigger than ourselves. NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratories (and all who were part of making this happen), my hat is off to you and with gratitude. You can follow the Mars rover Curiosity on Twitter: @marscuriosity

Great win! Thanks for keeping my childhood dreams alive! And I wish this mission every success.

Anyway, the real estate possibilities are endless, right?

Posted by

René Fabre

"Where there's conversation, there's opportunity."

Please Note - The views expressed herein reflect only the individual’s personal views and are not the views of the author’s employer.

The Blackberry Chronicles, a blog by Rene Fabre and his travels around the Greater Pacific Northwest and beyond. Connect w/ Rene Fabre on Google+. Rene Fabre on Twitter. Rene Fabre writes reviews on Yelp. Rene Fabre on Linkedin.com The Audiorium YouTube Channel by Rene Fabre. Facebook.com/renefabre Rene Fabre loves digital photography and here are his shares on Flickr. Rene Fabre is a musician and composer and shares some of his orginal music and recordings on Soundcloud. Rene Fabre shares his interests on Pinterest.

Comments (10)

Debbie Reynolds, C21 Platinum Properties
Platinum Properties- (931)771-9070 - Clarksville, TN
The Dedicated Clarksville TN Realtor-(931)320-6730
Rene, It is incredible what technology and man can do together. Who would have thought we would be watching what was happening on Mars even five years ago?
Aug 09, 2012 01:34 PM
Todd Clark - Retired
eXp Realty LLC - Tigard, OR
Principle Broker Oregon

It absolutely awesome what we have done all because of NASA. Together they have created a program that took a space craft to a planet traveling at 13,000 miles and slowed it down and got it to land safely exactly where they wanted it to.

Aug 09, 2012 01:44 PM
John McCormack, CRS
Albuquerque Homes Realty - Albuquerque, NM
Honesty, Integrity, Results, Experienced. HIRE Me!

There was an all night BIG party here watching and waiting for every move as Albuquerque had a hand in working on this major project too.  I enjoy maneuvering the small rover at the Natural Museum of Science and History in our area.  Really cool. 

Aug 09, 2012 02:29 PM
Endre Barath, Jr.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties - Beverly Hills, CA
Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002

Rene' it is amazing and I agree it went under the Radar. Too many people worrying about the almighty dollar vs the long term benefits. I still remember when Sputnik went up and JFK said we must compete and win the race.... who would have thought that a Dictator who would tear carpets and another Dictator who happened his shoes at the United Nations would be the spark to have us land on the Red Planet a few days ago!

Aug 09, 2012 05:01 PM
Rene Fabre
ARFCO Media - Renton, WA
Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts

Debbie: I watched the video footage about the landing with awe. What an amazing intricate landing process.

Aug 10, 2012 01:44 AM
Rene Fabre
ARFCO Media - Renton, WA
Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts

Todd: Mind blowing to be sure! And slowing that baby down from 13,000 miles per hour in the thin Mars atmosphere, the parachute, then lowering it down on a tether... Wow!

John: Good reason for celebration! I saw some segments on a video about the Albuquerque contribution.

Endre: Indeed, JFK inspired a generation when he declared we're going to the moon! It will be amazing to see how what we learned and developed to do this mission trickles down to the technology we use on a daily basis. Funny, but I can still visualize Krushchev pounding his shoe on the podium!

Aug 10, 2012 01:51 AM
Steve and Jan Bachman
RE/MAX Gateway, Reston, Herndon, Ashburn, Sterling, Fairfax - Herndon, VA
Realtors - Northern Virginia

 

Me too Rene. I remember coming down stairs late to watch Neil Armstrong like it was yesterday.fairfax county real estate agents Jan and Steve Bachman

I cannot imagine the technical and scientific wisdom that went into this Mars landing...truly amazing.

Aug 13, 2012 01:07 AM
Debb Janes
Nature As Neighbors - Camas, WA
Put My Love of Nature At Work for You

The magic of space and exploration lives on in our hearts - I'm sure someday we'll ramp it up again and finally discover what waits "beyond the stars." Until then, this is one small step... ;) 

Aug 13, 2012 04:41 AM
Rene Fabre
ARFCO Media - Renton, WA
Practicing Philosophical Eclectic of the Arts

Steve... Those were exciting times... I was so amazed to see the details of the landing. What choreography!

Debb... indeed, one small step! Watching a bunch of the video interviews with crew at the launch center, I was so surprised to see how young they all were!

Aug 13, 2012 06:57 AM
Barbie Van Horn
First American Title Company - Seattle, WA
Barbie Van Horn

Thanks for including the Twitter link.  I look forward to watching the tweets from space.

Aug 14, 2012 01:24 AM