Students Watched History Being Made Today
By DW Davis
@DWDavis (25797)
United States
November 26, 2018 4:46pm CST
First I want to thank @lookatdesktop for giving me a heads up that this was going on. Thanks to you, Anthony, my students were able to watch the action in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory control room as the InSight lander touched down on Mars.
The students sat mesmerized as the lander went through the stages of atmosphere entry, descent towards the planets surface, and a safe landing. The way they clapped and cheered upon the news that the lander was safely down you would have thought they'd spent their whole lives working to make it happen.
I think the students drew a lot of inspiration from watching this live and knowing they were witnesses to history in the making. Their excitement put me in mind of the way I felt when I was their age and watched the men of the Apollo missions walk on the moon.
Have you ever had the chance to be witness to a momentous moment in history?
11 people like this
12 responses
@cindiowens (5120)
• North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
26 Nov 18
What an opportunity. Kudos to both of you.
2 people like this
@cindiowens (5120)
• North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
27 Nov 18
@DWDavis and they will remember you forever for putting that spark in them.
2 people like this
@GreatMartin (23670)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
27 Nov 18
I still remember sitting hypnotized in front of the TV when a man landed on the moon!
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (135583)
• Marion, Ohio
26 Nov 18
I am sure they will always remember seeing it.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Nov 18
I watched this even live today while I was at work. It was pretty exciting. I was very excited when they announced that InSight had landed safely. It's amazing how many landers and rovers we have now put down on Mars.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25797)
• United States
28 Nov 18
My students were amazed that of the 18 landers and rovers we've sent only 8 have succeeded. They are beginning to understand what I've been trying to tell them about why you can't let one failure hold you back, that you have to learn from it and move forward.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Nov 18
@DWDavis We are certainly learning with each successive mission. I hope we continue to learn more and more important details about Mars, as that will keep us interested in returning with more and more missions.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43567)
• Denver, Colorado
2 Dec 18
I'm afraid that the closest I ever came was being stationed in Germany when the Berlin Wall came down. Couldn't get there, but at least I was in the country!
1 person likes this
@lookatdesktop (27156)
• Dallas, Texas
27 Nov 18
Not as often as I would have liked. This day will be remembered as a great day in space exploration and I appreciate that you were so thoughtful to mention me in your post. 
@JESSY3236 (22199)
• United States
27 Nov 18
The only thing I saw was the ellipse that happened last year.
@JudyEv (381746)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Nov 18
I can imagine that could be really inspiring for some of the children especially.
