Curiosity: How NASA Got its Groove Back

If NASA were a prize fighter, few would have been lining up to place bets on it in recent years.  The American space agency suffered a metaphorical TKO in 2011 as its shuttle program came to an end.  From that point onward, in order to send American astronauts to the International Space Station, the US government would need to rent some seats aboard a Russian spacecraft.  This position of dependence that the one time unrivaled space faring nation found itself in seemed to indicate that NASA had lost its mojo.

Well, what a difference a year, and a trip to Mars, can make.  This week, NASA's one ton rover suitably named Curiosity began cruising around Mars following an eight month long voyage through the solar system.  As the first pictures of the red planet reached our blue one, it became clear immediately: NASA was back.