Tuesday, August 14, 2012
JPL's Team Gets Call From Obama
The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory team, which successfully landed the robotic Curiosity rover on Mars last week, and is now getting to set to drive across the surface of the surface of the planet, got a call Monday from President Barack Obama, and also released its first, 360 degree view of its landing site. Obama telephoned NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena yesterday, thanking the team for its efforts, as well as making cracks about mission flight director Bobak Ferdowski, who has gained notoriety for his multi-colored mohawk, saying "I, in the past, thought about getting a mohawk myself –- but my team keeps on discouraging me." In other related news, the first, 360 degree, color panorama of its landing site was released by NASA, showing Curiosity's current home in Gale Crater.