Editor’s Note: This entry is to chronicle online reception to Mars Exploration from 2000 on.
About
Mars Exploration is a scientific research mission undertaken by various national space exploration programs to learn more about the environment and possible life on planet Mars, as well as to prepare for any possible human mission in the future. The ongoing efforts led by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration has been chronicled online since the inception of the Mars Exploration Rover program[1] on July 28th, 2000.
History
Pre-Rover Mission: Pathfinder
The Mars Pathfinder was an exploration probe launched on December 4th, 1996. On July 4th, 1997, the probe landed on the planet’s Chryse Planitia region to conduct experiments on the surface. MSNBC[61] published an article titled “Internet Users Follow Mars Missions”, which reported that NASA was struggling to cope with Internet traffic after the Pathfinder reached the surface of Mars on July 4th. The NASA Pathfinder website received several awards[60], including 1998 Best of the Net, Los Angeles Times 1997 Pick, Cool Site of the Day and Family Site of the Day. On July 14th, the Los Angeles Times[62] published an article titled “Millions Visit Mars -- on the Internet”, which reported that the network of mirror sites hosting information about the probe average about 40 to 45 million hits a day.
Spirit and Opportunity
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration’s (NASA)[2] Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced the Mars Exploration Rover mission on July 28th, 2000 after losing two Mars probes in 1999.[3] On June 8th, 2003, the two rovers were given the names Spirit[8] and Opportunity[9] by 9-year-old Sofi Collis in an essay contest.[4]Spirit was launched two days later on the 10th from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Just short of a month later, on July 7th, Opportunity went on its way. The rovers did not land until January 2004
The rovers made significant discoveries while on Mars; within the first month of its landing, Opportunity found mineral spheres dubbed “blueberries”[5] that alluded to water possibly existing on the planet. In May 2007, Spirit uncovered a patch of soil composed of 90% silica[6], which scientists concluded was concentrated by a water source. Though the two rovers only had a 90 Sol (Martian Days, 92.5 Earth days) mission, Opportunity continues its research as of August 2012. Spirit was active until March 20th, 2010, after it had been stuck on flat ground for 10 months.
Curiosity
A third rover, Curiosity[10], was launched on November 26, 2011, landing on the planet on August 6th, 2012. Its name was chosen on May 27th, 2009 by sixth grader Clara Ma[16] who won a Twitter-launched NASA essay contest.[29] During its landing, the rover live-tweeted the event from its official Twitter account.[44]
I’m safely on the surface of Mars. GALE CRATER I AM IN YOU!!! #MSL
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 6, 2012
Online Presence
The Mars Science Laboratory maintains an active mission page[14], highlighting news from Curiosity and a vast image gallery[59] with thousands of photos from the rovers. There is also an Image of the Day[56] feature, highlighting one of those photos with a blurb about its context.. NASA created a Facebook[7] page for the Mars Exploration Rovers in January 2008, transitioning it from a personal profile to a fan page on May 8th, 2009. As of August 2012, this page has 24,103 likes. _Curiosity_’s Facebook fan page[15] was created on July 6th, 2010, and has 260,000 likes as of August 2012. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory joined YouTube[17] on January 17th, 2007 and began posting videos from its rovers that day. However, the channel only receives 4705 views a day. They also maintain a Ustream account[18] for streaming events.
On Twitter, NASA’s main account[11] has nearly 2.7 million followers, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory[12] has more than 335,000 followers, Spirit and Opportunity[19] have 161,000 followers and Curiosity[13] has nearly 821,000 followers.
Reception
Spirit & Opportunity (2004)
[Please request editorship to contribute additional information about the online reception of Spirit & Opportunity landings]
Phoenix (2008)
[Please request editorship to contribute additional information about the online reception of Phoenix landing]
Curiosity (2012)
After _Curiosity_’s landing on Monday, August 6th, 2012, the hashtags #MSL[25] (short for Mars Science Laboratory), #Mars[28] and #Curiosity[26] each began to trend, with #MSL[27] trending on Google+. The offical Oreo Twitter account tweeted[57] a photo of an open Oreo cookie with red cream with rover tracks going across it as part of their Daily Twist[58] news commentary series to commemorate the event. Additionally, the rover was given a part in that day’s Google Doodle, which was mainly focused on the 2012 Olympics.
NASA live streamed the landing, which involved a sequence never attempted previously, with a sky crane and an automated program which would cause the rover to land itself. Streaming was covered by Mediaite[45], Mashable[46], Wired[47] and the Huffington Post.[48] While British newspaper the Telegraph[49] did not host the live stream, they provided a play by play of the landing as it was happening.
Outside of official NASA feeds, other feeds and watch parties for the Curiosity landing were provided by PBS Newshour[50], nonprofit organization Explore Mars[51], the YouTube channel Universe Today[52] and San Francisco Museum the Exploratorium.[53] On Tumblr, viewers and fans began posting images of _Curiosity_’s landing as well as images the rover has taken on Mars with the hashtags #curiosity[54] and #mars.[55]
Impact
Curiosity: Bobak Ferdowski
Bobak Ferdowski, a NASA engineer and flight director of the Curiosity mission, was given the nickname NASA Mohawk Guy during the live coverage of the rover’s landing. His mohawk haircut with stars shaved into the side of his head drew the attention of Twitter[36], Reddit[34] and Tumblr[35] users, who began sharing his photo and making fan art and image macros featuring the engineer. Ferdowski’s unexpected popularity was reported by Cnet[38], the Daily Dot[39], the Huffington Post[40], the Atlantic[41], Buzzfeed[42] and Jezebel.[43]
Curiosity: Parody Twitter Accounts
Within 72 hours of the rover’s landing, Curiosity inspired four parody Twitter accounts. While three of them, @MarsRoverSwag[24], @MarsCuroisity[20] and @SarcasticRover[23] focused on a sardonic approach to _Curiosity_’s normal tweets, @BiCuriousRover[22]‘s humor focuses on gay culture. These accounts were featured on the Huffington Post[29], George Takei’s Facebook[30], the New Zealand Listener[31], WebProNews[32] and the Daily Dot.[33]
HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT. I AM ON MARS.
— Curoisity Rover (MarsCuroisity) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarsCuroisity/status/232366626543116289">August 6, 2012</a></blockquote> <br> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center"><p>Just analyzed a rock… it was hard. Can I come home now?</p>— SarcasticRover (SarcasticRover) August 6, 2012
Search Interest
External References
[1]NASA – Mars Exploration Rovers
[3]BBC – New probe for Mars
[4] Jet Propulsion Laborator – Girl with Dreams Names Mars Rovers ‘Spirit’ and ‘Opportunity’
[5] Mars Exploration Rovers – Mineral in Mars ‘Berries’ Adds to Water Story
[6]NASA – Mars Rover Spirit Unearths Surprise Evidence of Wetter Past
[7] Facebook – Mars Exploration Rovers
[8] Wikipedia – Spirit Rover
[9] Wikipedia – Opportunity Rover
[10] Wikipedia – Curiosity Rover
[12] Twitter – NASAJPL<a href="https://twitter.com/MarsCuriosity">MarsCuriosity
[14]NASA – Mars Science Laboratory
[15] Facebook – NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover
[16] Mars Science Laboratory – Curiosity,’ Meet Clara
[17] YouTube – Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s channel
[18] Ustream – Curiosity Cam
[19] Twitter – @MarsRovers
[20] Twitter – @MarsCuroisity
[22] Twitter – @BiCuriousRover
[23] Twitter – @SarcasticRover
[24] Twitter – @MarsRoverSwag
[26] Twitter – #Curiosity
[29] Mashable – Curiosity Rover is Female and She’s on Twitter
[29] Huffington Post – BiCuriosity Rover, Parody Twitter Account, Comments On Ryan Lochte And Chick-Fil-A Controversy
[30] Facebook – George Takei: Red rover, red rover, your tweets are all over…
[31] New Zealand Listener – Best of the Mars Curiosity Twitter parodies
[32] WebProNews – Mars Rover Just Wants to Watch Breaking Bad
[33] Daily Dot – The best of Twitter’s hilarious Sarcastic Mars Rover
[35] Tumblr – Fuck Yeah Bobak Ferdowski
[36] Reddit – LadyBoners: Mohawk man from NASA’s live coverage of Curiosity.
[37] Twitter – Search for NASA Mohawk
[38] CNet – NASA mohawk heartthrob racks up Twitter marriage proposals
[39] The Daily Dot – NASA engineer pilots Mars Rover through space, into Internet’s heart
[40] The Huffington Post – Bobak Ferdowsi’s Mohawk Blows Up Twitter As NASA’s Curiosity Rover Lands On Mars
[41] The Atlantic – The Curiosity Landing Already Has a Meme: NASA’s ‘Mohawk Guy’
[42] Buzzfeed – America Lands Mars Curiosity, Meets Bobak Ferdowsi
[43] Jezebel – We’ve Landed a Rover on Mars, But All Anyone’s Talking About Is This Guy’s Mohawk
[44] Mashable – Tweeting Truck Lands on Mars, Internet Explodes With Joy
[45] Mediaite – Watch The NASA Live Stream Of Curiosity Rover Landing On Mars
[46] Mashable – Watch the Mars Curiosity Landing Live
[47] Wired – Watch Live: Curiosity Rover Attempts to Land on Mars
[48] Huffington Post – Mars Landing Live Coverage: NASA Rover Curiosity Touches Down On Red Planet
[49] The Telegraph – Nasa Curiosity Landing: as it happened
[50]PBS Newshour – Mars Exploration Rovers
[52] YouTube – Universe Today
[53] Exploratorium – Return To Mars
[54] Tumblr – Posts tagged #curiosity
[55] Tumblr – Posts tagged #mars
[56]NASA – Image of the Day Gallery
[57] Twitter – @Oreo’s Mars Tweet
[58] Oreo – Daily Twist
[59]NASA – Image Gallery
[60]NASA – Mars Pathfinder Web Site Awards
[61]NASA – MSNBC Internet Users Follow Mars Missions
[62] Los Angeles Times – Millions Visit Mars – On the Internet