[Over waffles this morning, the girls decided to tell us what they know about space. The conversation eventually got around to NASA, woman astronauts, and Curiosity. I know this is a weird request to all the girls' readers, but if anyone knows anyone who works for NASA, there are two syrup-soaked kids here who would really get a kick to know this post was read by the Curiosity team.]
MAEVE: Pluto is not a planet it is a darf planet. A dorf planet. A dooooorf planet.
ADDIE: Mars is very hot.
MAEVE: Mars has a red spot on it.
DADDY: I think that’s Jupiter. But Mars is a red planet.
A: How do you know that, Daddy? Have you been there?
D: Nope, but I've seen lots of pictures of it. Astronauts built a robot named Curiosity
and sent it to Mars. Curiosity takes
pictures with a really fancy camera and he sends them back for everyone to
look at on the internet.
[Utter. Stunned. Silence.
Waffle pieces drop from forks.]
A: There’s… a robot on Mars?
D: Yup, named Curiosity.
M: How did it get there?
D: It was built by NASA.
By a bunch of really smart scientists.
It flew to Mars on a rocket and now it looks around Mars and it writes
back to the scientists, talking about what it finds.
A: How many aliens does it know?
D: Well, none, yet, but it’s still looking. Do you think it’ll find any?
M: I have an idea.
Aliens are there, but they’re really small so you can’t see them. They’re so small you can’t see them.
D: Actually, a lot of scientists agree with you. They asked Curiosity to look for places where
there might have been water because they think microscopic aliens might have lived in the
water on Mars. "Microscopic" means you have to use a microscope to see them.
A: Can we write to Curiosity and say hi?
D: I happen to know Curiosity is pretty active on the
internet. I bet if we write a blog post,
he’ll read it.
A: OKAY! Hi
Curiosity! Daddy, who built
curiosity? What is his name?
D: I don’t know their names, but one guy who helps
Curiosity is named Bobak Ferdowsi.
A: Are there any girls who work with Curiosity?
D: Oh, honey, I’m absolutely certain there are, but I don’t
know their names. Maybe we can look that
up on the internet?
A: No, that’s okay, I’ll ask Curiosity. Daddy, can we build a robot?
M: And send it to Pluto?
D: What would we call it?
A: PLUTO!
M: METAL!
A: BUTTERCUP!
M: MARSHMALLOW!
A: GINGER!
[Here, I swear I’m not making this up, the girls’ mother did
a spit take.]
A: So how do we make a robot?
D: Well, first, you study super hard, do really well in
school, and become a scientist. Then you
can be an Astronaut and work for NASA.
A: Okay!
M: I don’t want to be an astronaut. I’m scared of space.
D: Well, not all NASA scientists go into space. Some work in Ground Control and wear vests.
M: THAT’S for me!
D: Okay, girls, what do you want to say to Curiosity?
A: Curiosity! I
think that you’re cool. So what are you
doing on space? Do you see any aliens,
Curiosity? Did you find any holes
yet? That you can go down in? Can you roll on the bottom of your planet
because I don’t know if you would fall off.
Goodbye Curiosity! Write to us
soon!
M: Hi Curiosity!
Why are you living in space? What
did you discover already? What are you
going to discover next? Will you write
back to me once you know? Goodbye Curiosity! And have a good weekend! And make sure you have waffles! Hee hee hee.
Wow girls! I love that you want to know more about space, NASA, and especially the Curiosity Rover!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I'm a girl who likes space and science, and while I'm a little bit older than you, I am no less curious. I work at a space simulator and have visited lots of NASA sites and met scientists, engineers, and even astronauts!
The Curiosity Rover is a very special mission to me. This large robot (the size of a small car! Whoa!) was carried up into space on a rocket in November of 2011, and *I actually got to go see it!* WOW, the rocket launch was loud and fast!
It took Curiosity 8-9 months to get all the way from Earth to Mars, and then she had a very special and scary landing. I have all kinds of pictures and videos and stuff that I love to share about my trip and about Curiosity's trip.
Before Curiosity lifted off, a short cartoon was made about her. I taught a class of 5 and 6 year olds, and we watched this video to get ready: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmPr-AR_l2g
The next year, when Curiosity got all the way to Mars and landed, we showed a different video at work to all the people who visited us: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki_Af_o9Q9s This video does a good job of showing how suspenseful (scary) the landing was. We had never tried something like this before, and if Curiosity didn't land, we'd lose a really really good robot!
The coolest part is that Curiosity is on Mars RIGHT NOW and she takes pictures every day that we can see right on our computers! It's like visiting Mars without even leaving Earth! You can see some of her pictures right here on her website: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/
Great stuff! I thought the girls might like to know you don't have to wait until you become a scientist to make a robot. The Robogals can help you out. These uni students use Lego Mindstorm robots with school students, see if they have something near you: http://www.robogals.org/
ReplyDeleteSo pleased to hear the Girls are learning about Curiosity! I only found out about this via one of her ( we call the rover a she! ) engineers posting a link to this blog on twitter. Curiosity is too busy doing science and looking for amazing things on Mars to write herself...but three amazing ladies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory act as her voice right here on Earth via twitter.com/MarsCuriosity . As for me....I also work at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab - it's my job to make the animations that show how Curiosity got to Mars and how it works...and it's just so young explorers like you two can get excited about science and exploration that we do what we do. I'm sure Curiosity will be delighted to here from you!
ReplyDeleteImportant first rule of parenting. Do not tell children they can't do something.
ReplyDelete(I mean things like touching the stove and eating staples, yeah, but I mean the reachy, aspirationy stuff.)
My blog post:
"Maeve and Addie announce plans to send a robot named Buttercup (possibly Ginger) to Dorf planet Pluto"
http://vbartilucci.tumblr.com/post/41679402675/maeve-and-addie-announce-plans-to-send-a-robot-named
As a mom and a teacher, I just want to tell you girls (and your dad) that I think it's wonderful that you're curious about the world. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteI've been working with others on a Kickstarter project for National Space Society, to produce some videos ("Our Future in Space") that could be right up your girls' alley - fun, informative, dramatic. This is the short link: http://kck.st/SAvCLa - I'd be interested to know what you think - and if you like it, to pass it on! :D
ReplyDeleteHi Girls ...
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about NASA's Curiosity, but working at Intelsat for the past many years, I have been teaching our youngest engineers about satellites. I'll send you the material by email ... have fun, and keep being curious!