GALE CRATER, MARS – The Curiosity Rover died yesterday while chasing an unidentified particle on Mars, the National Aeronautic and Space Agency reported at a press conference this morning.
Physicists have not yet classified the particle that killed Curiosity, but three photos NASA received shortly before her death may hold clues.
“According to our one-megapixel photos, Curiosity was last seen chasing a particle that appeared to be slightly smaller than a boson and somewhat structured like a buckminsterfullerene,” said Lead Nuclear Physicist David Horton. “Frankly, we believe she tripped and fell off Mars.”
Miss Rover gained international fame earlier this month after reaching speeds of more than 10,000 miles (16,093.44 km) per hour and successfully landing in the Yellowknife area of Aeolis Palus, in the Greater Gale Crater area of Mars.
“This really sucks,” said NASA Intern Kevin Riley. “There were only, like, three single girls at NASA, and now there are only two.”
Memorial services will be held Friday at NASA’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
I don’t know what it is about this one mission, but it sure has rekindled the American interest in space exploration. Maybe because it’s so big or because it has a fricken laser attached to it’s fricken head.
I watched the landing in real time on NASAtv. It was very emotional and wonderful to watch. The odds of everything going right seemed very low, but it worked. Amazing what you can do when you throw a couple billion dollars at a project.