Things Engineers Like: High-Tech Vehicles

Generations of engineers (And general public) of the past and the future will always have interest in high-tech vehicles. The entertainment industry easily demonstrates the enthusiasm for vehicles that people have dreamed of. It may have all started with the flying vehicles in the Jetsons in the 1960's. In the late 70's you had the explosion of Star Wars with the infamous Millennium Falcon; of course continuing the amazing ships and vehicles throughout the entire series. In the 80's you had Star Trek with the Enterprise and its amazing bridge layout. This, of course, led to tons of other similar sci-fi series.

For those not interested in sci-fi (The rare few), you may love the fancy Ashton Martins and other vehicles from James Bond. Engineers definitely went crazy for the features that Mr. Bond's cars have had, ranging from going underwater and missiles (not to mention the speed). With the current craze with superheros, you have the Bat Mobile and the Green Hornet's Black Beauty. For the younger generations, you have Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's Invisible Boatmobile. No one will ever know the full potential of that vehicle.

While those are purely fictional, last night (this morning while you were probably sleeping. Of course, I wasn't because of the excitement), the Curiosity rover landed on Mars after being launch from Earth by NASA on November 26, 2011 after traveling over 352 million miles. After months of just waiting and tracking, it came down to the 7 Minutes of Terror when it hit Mars' atmosphere. The Curiosity rover is filled with cameras, sensors, and equipment including a laser to determine composition of material on Mars. And it only takes about 14 minutes for the picture to transfer to Earth too!

Here is a video of the landing:

 What an amazing machine and process! And it seems that everything went perfectly!

I can't even imagine the excitement and anxiety the engineers and scientists had last night. It must have been one of the most amazing feelings ever especially since some people have been working on the rover for over ten years. Here is a quick video of their reaction:

Now even more excitement is to come! The exploration of Mars! Woot!