10:41 PM: We’ve watched solstice and equinox sunsets with her, and now a Mars landing – West Seattle’s NASA Solar System Ambassador Alice Enevoldsen presided as a crowd of more than 40 at The Kenney (WSB sponsor) just watched the NASA feed bring word that Curiosity had landed successfully. There was applause here to mirror the applause from Mission Control; we’ll have video shortly (added – here’s the video):
(First big round of applause is about :45 in)
A lucky few went away with buttons to commemorate the occasion – reading “7 minutes of terror”:
That’s in honor of the nailbiting interval between its entry to Mars’s atmosphere, and touchdown.
10:59 PM UPDATE: Almost half an hour after touchdown now, and at least a dozen people are lingering to talk about it.
(The NASA feed says there was so much interest, two of their websites crashed.) Back in June at Alice’s summer-solstice-watch event, Lego models of the lander were on display, and they’re here too:
The Solar System Ambassador program (explained here) has more than 500 volunteers around the country, including Alice, who has been part of it since 2010 (here’s her listing on the NASA website).
EARLY MORNING P.S. Another new image has since come in from Mars – see it here.
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