Congratulations, humankind, we have once again landed on Mars.
You and I didn’t do much (unless you’re reading this, NASA), but the team of NASA scientists who did were understandably stoked when the InSight probe landed successfully after the much-feared ‘seven minutes of terror’.
Now back in the day the term ‘nerd’ may have been an insult, but it’s used here with admiration. I mean, who else is going to choreograph an elaborate handshake routine to celebrate the touchdown?
The guy on the left from the start is worth watching, just for his facial expressions, and then it’s handshake time.
When the footage cuts away to a wider angle, you can still see the handshake going on towards the top right corner of the screen.
NASA, you do you:
Our @NASAInSight spacecraft stuck the #MarsLanding!
Its new home is Elysium Planitia, a still, flat region where it’s set to study seismic waves and heat deep below the surface of the Red Planet for a planned two-year mission. Learn more: https://t.co/fIPATUugFo pic.twitter.com/j0hXTjhV6I
— NASA (@NASA) November 26, 2018
Yes, it’s peak nerd and it’s marvellous.
That deserves to be a GIF:
I’m losing at this InSight probe celebration handshake pic.twitter.com/A0i4mQmb2M
— Eric Morrow (@morroweric) November 26, 2018
Most excellent.
Also worth celebrating is InSight’s first image of the Martian surface. Unfortunately, dust is speckling InSight’s camera, but again, this is a picture from Mars, yo:
Experts say that is Mars’ horizon visible in the top portion of the image.
Whilst us plebs can take no credit for this achievement, it does put a little pep in the step on a Tuesday morning.
Go humans.
[source:mashable]
