Mars rover's 'golden' landing steals Olympic glory

by Community Team Posted: August 6, 2012 2:16 PM Last Updated: August 6, 2012 2:48 PM

Categories: Community, Science & Technology, Sports, World

View the story "Mars rover's 'golden moment' outshines Olympics online" on StorifyMars rover's 'golden moment' outshines Olympics onlineWhat does the successful landing of a Mars rover have to do with the Olympic games in London? Plenty, if you consider all the comparisons circulating on social media. Which crowd-drawing event would win if the space event and the sports event really went head-to-head? Storified by CBC News Community · Mon, Aug 06 2012 11:15:52Tapcdn

What does thesuccessful landing of a Mars rover have to do with the Olympic games in London?Plenty, if you consider all the comparisons circulating on social media.

Users pitted theexcitement of the two crowd-drawing events against one another, debating thefiner points of everything from live coverage and perfect landings to cost-effectiveness and historical impact.

If the space event and the sports event actuallywent head to head, here's a look at what would please the many judges on socialmedia. For one night at least, it seemed NASA and its robotic explorer Curiosity were the fan favourites.

The coverage

Frustrated NBC viewers have been complaining about the broadcaster's delayed Olympics coverage since the Games began. The social media storm started brewing when NBC decided against airing the Olympic Opening Ceremony live, waiting instead for primetime in the U.S.

So when NASA kept the Mars landing as close to real time as possible, spectators put a cosmic twist on their Olympic complaints.
Apparently NASA TV will be showing Curiosity landing on Mars with less of a time delay than NBC shows the Olympics. #nbcfailAlan J. Porter#NBC delayed the #Olympics coverage 8 hours because of Money, #Mars delayed #Curiosity coverage 7 minutes because of Physics!Bill GrossIf #NBCfail covered #curiosity Matt and Meredith would fill the 7 minutes of terror with scripted patter.Jeff JarvisIt took less time for Curiosity to broadcast back from Mars than it did for NBC to broadcast Usain Bolt's race. Oh, the humanity.Not Bill WaltonNASA can tell us what is happening on mars before NBC can tell us what is happening in the olympics. I vote NASA streams the next olympicsChris SterlingEven the Curiosity rover's official Twitter stream couldn't resist gloating a bit.
Dear @neiltyson, for being millions of miles away it's faster than say... some TV broadcasts from London to Los Angeles ;-)Curiosity RoverAn image summarizing the sentiment quickly went viral, making the front page of widely-popular social news Reddit and triggering a long thread under the title "Maybe NASA should broadcast the Olympics."
undefinedImgur

The 'astronomical' costs

Another comparison was between the price tag on the two ventures. Organizers of the London Olympics have been feeling the heat for the sudden cost overruns on their already inflated $14.7 billion official budget, particularly now that government figures show Britain is still mired in recession despite all the recent Olympic spending.

But even at a budget-busting $2.5 billion, the Curiosity landing cost far less to orchestrate. You can guess which cost most users considered astronomical.
NASA's Curiosity has cost about 1/6 what the Olympics has officially cost. We could have sent 6 rovers and raced them!Chris NealeThe London Olympics cost over $14B over 4 years and lasts 2 weeks. Mars Curiosity cost $2.5B over 8 years and lasts 2 years.skywaymanLondon Olympics cost 14.5 billion dollars. And it costs ONLY 2.5 billion dollars to send rovers to #Mars. Our curiosity is pretty cheap!Paras VaidyaBut others pointed out that the two events were far too different to pit against one another in this category.
I don't get the 'Olympics cost X $$$ more than MarsCuriosity' thing. Science too often loses via apples-to-oranges spending comparisons.Barbara J KingComparisons of billions spent on Olympics vs Mars are silly when we spent a trillion on banksBen BettsCould you please stop comparing apples to bananas? Mars Curiosity mission costs $2.5b. That's it. Why do you have to compare it to Olympics?Claudio Cicali

The 'golden moment'

Mars Rover .vs. the Olympics http://pic.twitter.com/u8OBiiMEmikefoleyCosts and coverage aside, the excitement at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena seemed far more analogous to the joy experienced by those who win Olympic events.
NasaPeople around the world cheered alongside the men and women of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena as engineer Allen Chen spoke the much-anticipated words: "Touchdown confirmed."

The members of the Mars Curiosity team erupted in raucous celebration -- jumping, screaming, pumping fists, hugging and even crying. undefinedImgurThe euphoria wasn't lost on JPL Director Charles Elachi. He compared the team, which was largely uniform inblue shirts and khaki pants, to athletic teams that participate in theOlympics. "This team came back with the gold," hesaid.

Many social media users ran with the metaphor, and topped it off with a bit of nationalistic chest-thumping.
This is like the ultimate geek Olympics. #NASAtv #MarsCuriosity #MSLDylan HorrocksNot a single moment in the Olympics moved me as much as seeing a bunch of space-dorks in blue polos jump in joy. #MSLRoi CarthyOH "The nerds just took gold in the 560 billion metres" #curiosityBen LuntPerfect dismount, perfect landing. Curiosity rover wins the gold medal... on Mars.Joe ProcitaThe medal count for the 2012 #Olympics has been updated to include the number of robots landed on Mars: #Curiosity http://pic.twitter.com/J0IyF1CbMello McGeeHey China, we just got a gold medal in the Landing On Mars event. What medal did you get? #Curiosity #Merica #OlympicsAmerican HumorWoke up to learn that @MarsCuriosity stuck the landing on its dismount last night! #olympics #mars #marsolympics http://twitpic.com/ag5vovrkramb

The photo finish

What's the end of a race without a side by side comparison? Some users decided to compare the space and sports events.
Mars #Curiosity vs. Olympics. #MSL #NASA http://twitpic.com/ag8d5dMatt H.I just mashed #Olympics #Banksy & #Mars (I know I am not an artist but its the thought that counts) http://pic.twitter.com/mUbcRlNIerichhugo

The warm and fuzzy feelings

Apples and oranges aside, several people savoured the taste of human achievement in general. Whether on this planet or next door, users remarked on what has been a jaw-dropping weekend for many.
Love that we landed on Mars and the world came together to watch a man with no legs run in the Olympics #HumanRaceFTWSean O'NeillI watched humanity land something the size of a car on Mars, on my telephone. #futureishereLilly HunterWhat a weekend for humanity, Double amputee runs in the olympics, World's fastest man runs 9.63 seconds AND we r exploring MARS as we speak!shruti singhBolt is worlds fastest, Phelps wins 19th Gold in #olympics, and NASA lands Curiosity rover on Mars, what a triumphant week for #humanity!Fahd AamirIn the Olympics, some countries win and some countries lose. When humanity explores space, the entire planet wins.Evan Jones

Did you watch the Mars landing? Have you been watching the Olympics? Which event would you award in the category of biggest crowd-pleaser?

Tags: Science & Technology, sports

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