Curiosity Boosts NASA’s Popularity

When the Curiosity rover landed on Mars in the wee hours on August 6, it represented a high point in a project that began, tentatively, in 2004. Across the U.S. (including a huge gathering in Times Square), people watched breathlessly as the rover touched down on the surface of another planet. After launching on November 26, 2011, and traveling approximately 563 million kilometres through space, Curiosity landed less than 2.4 kilometres from the original target site. The actual landing site has been named Bradbury Landing in honor or Ray Bradbury, author of The Martian Chronicles (among many other things).

Curiosity’s mission is to explore the climate and geology of Mars. Primarily, it will be looking for evidence of water, as well as organic material and chemicals necessary for life. This information will help determine the feasibility of a manned mission to the Red Planet.

With the success of the landing, interest in NASA and space exploration has skyrocketed. Curiosity even has its own Twitter account for those interested to follow the progress of its mission. Here are some titles to bolster your library’s space collection. For more titles, see our website.

DVDs
The What’s Up, NASA? Series
Carl Sagan’s Cosmos Box Set
NASA – The Complete Story
Apollo 11 – A Night to Remember
Magnificent Desolation – Walking on the Moon
Space Flight Collection
Mars – The Red Planet
Mars in 3D - Images from the Viking Mission
IMAX - Hubble

Audiobooks
Death by Black Hole by Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Failure Is Not an Option by Gene Kranz
Magnificent Desolation by Buzz Aldrin
Too Far from Home by Chris Jones