Earlier in August, NASA successfully landed a rover on Mars appropriately-named Curiosity. The rover, according to NASA, is capable of staying on the red planet for at least 687 days.

The goal is to determine whether Mars has ever had the environment that could support small life forms called microbes.

“My dad is very big on space,” said freshman CDM student Nicholas Stanley. “He showed me a video of the Curiosity landing and we compared it to the previous missions.”

Stanley said that he is intrigued by NASA’s exploration, but seemed to enjoy it for something a little closer to home. “I’ve always enjoyed talking about [space] with my father – it’s good bonding time,” said Stanley. “And [the discussions] really make me think you need to know what you’re talking about in order to hold a conversation.”

Stanley also said that he did not follow Curiosity’s popular Twitter account, which comically narrated the vehicle’s exploration. He did, however, witness NASA’s humor when he watched a streaming video of the mission control room. “There was a NASA guy with a Mohawk. At first everyone was wondering what he was doing, but then I found out that every time there is a new mission he does a different hairstyle for good luck,” said Stanley.
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