"It was better than we could have imagined"

That's what Barry Goldstein, project manager for the Phoenix mission, told CNN tonight, and I was privileged enough to watch history in the making.

The Phoenix Mars Mission had a successful landing on Mars this evening, and Congressman John Culberson streamed it live (via QIK.com) from the command center at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA.

Watching the excitement of these NASA scientists as the first images from the Phoenix lander came beaming in at a whopping 700 bits per second. To put that speed into perspective, you'd have to go back to the average speed of a dial-up modem from around 1985. But the fact that the images and data are being beamed to Earth from the surface of Mars makes this an inspiring technological notion, and whether it is 700 bits per second, or 70, does not make this short of amazing.

What added to the wonder of the moment was the fact that while all of this was happening, and my mind was trying to comprehend the sheer magnitude of the scientific achievement that was unfolding before my very eyes, I was sharing the moment with people from all over in a small chat room attached to the video, and were watching and describing the very images I myself were seeing.

What a magnificent time we're living in. Here we are, landing an unmanned machine on the surface of another planet over millions of miles away. Who could have dreamed such things were possible a century ago? 100 years ago our great-grandparents were amazed that man could leave the ground and travel great distances with the aid of a machine. Today we're discovering the terrain of an alien world.

When I was 4 years old, NASA was planning a space station. Today my 4-year-old is seeing us explore Mars. Now one day my 4-year-old boy will be a 30 year-old man. When he reaches that milestone, where will science be then? It completely captures my imagination to think of the possibilities.

I cannot thank Congressman John Culberson enough for taking the time to share this moment in scientific history with all of us on the Internet, and thank you to Qik.com for providing such an extraordinary service that just keeps on getting better every time I am exposed to it.

Photo Credit: Flickr User Bluedharma