August 28th, 2012
03:16 AM ET

Human voice makes giant leap in space thanks to Curiosity

The voice of NASA's chief has boldly gone where no voice has gone before - to another planet and back.

Words uttered by Charles Bolden, the administrator of NASA, were radioed to the Curiosity Rover on the surface of Mars, which in turn sent them back to NASA's Deep Space Network on Earth, NASA said in a statement Monday.

The successful transmission means Bolden's space-faring comments are the first instance of a recorded human voice traveling from Earth to another planet and back again, according to NASA.

In the recording, Bolden congratulated NASA employees and other agencies involved in the Curiosity mission, noting that "landing a rover on Mars is not easy."

"Others have tried," he said. "Only America has succeeded."

The announcement by NASA of the voice transmission, the latest in a series of advances by Curiosity since it landed on Mars earlier this month, comes just days after the death of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon.

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Filed under: Mars • Solar System • Space
soundoff (9 Responses)
  1. francois2012

    OK

    August 28, 2012 at 3:24 am | Report abuse |
  2. ♚Mmmmm♛

    and...what was the message...1-2-3 testing?

    August 28, 2012 at 3:59 am | Report abuse |
    • Sinfully Yours

      It was actually:
      "Can you hear me now?"

      August 28, 2012 at 6:50 am | Report abuse |
    • banasy©

      Lol@both of you...well done!

      August 28, 2012 at 11:34 am | Report abuse |
  3. bobcat (in a hat)©

    GM banasy and Mmmmm
    Whooooooeeeeee. That was one long night. Totally uneventful. Yes Mmmmm, that is good news. Just kidding. It looks like we are going to miss the worst part of the storm, but we'll still be doing some rocking and rolling.

    August 28, 2012 at 11:47 am | Report abuse |
  4. bobcat (in a hat)©

    An Amish lady is trotting down the road in her horse and buggy when she is pulled over by a cop. “Ma'am,” said the cop, “I'm not going to ticket you, but
    I do have to issue you a warning. You have a broken reflector on your buggy.”

    “Oh, I'll let my husband, Jacob, know as soon as I get home,” responded the Amish lady.

    “That's fine. Another thing, ma'am. I don't like the way that one rein loops across the horse's back and around one of his balls. I consider that animal abuse.Have your husband take care of that right away!” instructed the cop.

    Later that day, the lady is home telling her husband about her encounter with the cop.“Well, dear, what exactly did he say?” asked Jacob.

    “He said the reflector is broken,” replied the lady.

    “I can fix that in two minutes. What else?” wondered Jacob.

    “I'm not sure, Jacob... something about the emergency brake,” said the lady.

    August 28, 2012 at 12:03 pm | Report abuse |
  5. bobcat (in a hat)©

    A preacher was walking along a street when he noticed a small boy sitting on the curb. The boy had a bottle of liquid and seemed fascinated with it. The preacher was curious as to what was in the bottle, so he asked the boy what was in the bottle?

    The little boy looked up to the preacher and says "Preacher, what I have here is the most powerful liquid in the world. This is a bottle of turpentine!"

    The preacher smiled and shook his head and said "No,no my child, you are wrong. The most powerful liquid in the world is Holy water, for if you would rub a little Holy water on a pregnant woman's belly, she will pass a baby boy!"

    The little boy just grinned and replied "Damn preacher, that aint nothing. If you was to rub a little of this turpentine on a cat's azz, it will PASS a motorcycle!"

    August 28, 2012 at 1:10 pm | Report abuse |
  6. banasy©

    Rawr:
    *Facepalm*!

    Glad you're weathering Isaac.

    August 28, 2012 at 3:02 pm | Report abuse |
  7. will white

    CURIOSITY:Auburn University sends congrats and a big WAR DAMN EAGLE on your accomplishments.Great job guys..that other school in Tuscaloosa sends a shout out from their work release programs too..WAR EAGLE and AUout

    August 30, 2012 at 2:54 am | Report abuse |
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