By Chris Ian —
As a recovering flight attendant, any talk of landing automatically brings back memories of a speech we all know. The wild part is that in 10 or 20 years from today, some of us may actually get to hear it as we descend upon our nearest planetary neighbor, thus becoming the very aliens we have long-feared from Mars.
“We are on final descent for the Red Planet and will be landing on Mars shortly. Please remain in your seats and keep your seatbelts fastened until mission control has turned off the fasten seatbelt sign.”
For a trip that lasted 7 months, I’d be the first one to get out!
“The local time doesn’t matter and one year here is the equivalent of 687 days on Earth! Thank you for flying with Mars Express. Buh-bye.”
Back to reality for a moment because there is an incredible event taking place in just about an hour!
NASA is inviting the public to take part in virtual activities and events as the agency’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover nears entry, descent, and landing on the Red Planet, with touchdown scheduled for approximately 3:55 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 18.
Live coverage and landing commentary from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California will begin at 2:15 p.m. on the NASA TV Public Channel and the agency’s website, as well as the NASA App, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitch, Daily Motion, and THETA.TV.
Full Release: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-invites-public-to-share-thrill-of-mars-perseverance-rover-landing
For more information on Mars 2020, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/mars2020
More information about NASA’s exploration of Mars is available online at:
https://www.nasa.gov/mars
Party Off Planet 