August 12, 2015 9:30 pm
TWEETS…FROM…SPACE
Back when @Astro_Mike Massimino sent the first tweet from space on May 12, 2009, who could have conceived that one day every Dawn, Spirit and Philae would have their own Twitter accounts?
But now, it seems you can’t throw a rock in the solar system without hitting a tweeting spacecraft. And I think that’s a good thing.
After all, how else would I have found out that comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was reaching its perihelion early tomorrow morning if not for @ESA_Rosetta’s tweet early today:
<1 day to #67P #perihelion2015 & 185,997,031km to the Sun today! Hope @Philae2014 remembered to pack his sunglasses! pic.twitter.com/zsVk1dCDCO
— ESA Rosetta Mission (@ESA_Rosetta) August 12, 2015
New Horizon’s tweets kept us all informed as it approached Pluto. Here’s my favorite, from July 14:
After 9.5 years & 3.26 BILLION miles I’m just 2 hours – aka 62,258 miles – from closest approach! #PlutoFlyby pic.twitter.com/4CSSh4QEft — NASA New Horizons (@NASANewHorizons) July 14, 2015
Now, my rational brain knows that there’s a real live human being, or team of humans, actually doing the tweeting, but how can one not at least smile after reading a tweet like this:
I’m safely on the surface of Mars. GALE CRATER I AM IN YOU!!! #MSL
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 6, 2012
or this more recent one:
YES! I found NO3! Biologically-useful nitrogen, that is. Another sign ancient Mars=habitable http://t.co/HNKGuZBD1r pic.twitter.com/bfNJB3jx9w
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) March 24, 2015
In fact, with no disrespect intended towards the humans involved in the process, I enjoy suspending disbelief and anthropomorphizing just a bit.
Here are my 10 favorite tweeting spacecraft, in no particular order. (Sorry, Hubble, but maybe someday we’ll do a list for space telescopes!)
Spirit and Oppy: @MarsRovers
NASA’s Dawn Mission: @NASA_Dawn
MESSENGER: @MESSENGER2011
ESA Rosetta Mission: @ESA_Rosetta
Philae Lander: @Philae2014
NASA Voyager (Both 1 and 2): @NASAVoyager
NASA’s MAVEN Mission: @MAVEN2Mars
Curiosity Rover: @MarsCuriosity
NASA New Horizons: @NASANewHorizons
ISRO’s Mars Orbiter: @MarsOrbiter
Here’s a quote from Mars Orbiter’s profile: “Explorer. Loves science, photography, and long cruises.”
What’s not to like?
That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Jeffrey Simons
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