H.G. Wells, Mars, Curiosity, and Me

摘要

The Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, successfully negotiated its seven minutes of terror in a successful entry, descent, and landing in Gale crater on 6 August 2012, and since then it has been exploring the terrain as it slowly heads for Mount Sharp in the center of the crater. Over a year ago, however, around the time of the 31 December 2011 entry deadline for the 2012 Griffith Observer Science Writing Contest, Curiosity was still on the way to the Red Planet, and Joshua Wherry had to write conditionally about Curiosity's future. Because it would now seem odd to read,"On August 6~(th), the rover will land in Gale crater," we have edited Mr. Wherry's article, with his permission, to reflect what we all know: Curiosity is operating on Mars on behalf of our curiosity, and our understanding of the planet is already changing.