ScienceCasts: Why Curiosity Matters

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A former rock-n-roller turned NASA engineer explains why he thinks Curiosity--both the Mars rover and the human desire to learn new things--matters to ordinary people on Earth.

• Category

  Science & Technology

[complexatoms]

it doesn't matter to you, but that's okay, not all of us can lead a life of curiosity and open-mindedness... we need ignorant and idiotic people to... oh wait we don't need them at all. my mistake.

[Robert Mendel]

This presentation is really great! It connects the dots and enables the lay person to come to grips the the real essential nature of the space program. I love his comparison of exploration and music. This field of study gives hope to the underinformed and a greater appreciation to reaching out and touching a universe from which we all that makes up our bodies. Perhaps the drive to explore is the ways the stars are calling us into a relationship more like home. NASA, GO FOR IT ANYWHERE!

[MrTURBOJOHN]

yes we do, to serve us on macdonalds...

[Firebirdharris]

But it's not like they're literally launched $2b into space. Like they said, it's 1000s of jobs, jobs that wouldn't exist without this project, jobs of people that buy food in stores and hence pays store workers pay etc etc. Granted homelessness etc is bad, but attacking a science institute that gets ~19B a year vs the US military's ~710B (SIPRI), which is 10 times more than any other country barring china?

Good point but there are much more worthy targets out there.

[Veetina]

Yes we dominate this planet and we destroy it too! animals don't destroy and pollute as we do!

[erik jensen]

i just dont think during a time where we have millions of people are homeless.Iwould like for one of you people from nasa to walk up to a little boy or girl and explain how its important that we spend 2 billion on this robot.and then tell that little child that we don't have any money for her/him to put some food in there stomachs before they go to bed in there parents car.

[ChilesGreen]

NASA should look into mining asteroids for water to create oxygen and hydrogen fuel. Metals mined from Asteroids could be used to manufacture components that would be delivered to Earth orbit for assembly of a large space station resembling something out of the movie 2001 space odyssey. Looking for fossils on Mars is a waste of resources in my opinion. Once we establish a permanent infrastructure in space, exploration of mars and the rest of the solar system would be a piece of cake.

[ChilesGreen]

Although the Mars rovers are impressive,they've discovered nothing of significance since the Viking landers back in the 70's. There's nothing there but a thin CO2 atmosphere, traces of water, rock and dust. NASA should be working out a plan to confirm whether or not there's water and other raw materials that can be mined on the moon. The moon's much closer then Mars and it would be a thousand times easier to put raw materials needed to establish a permanent presence in space into lunar orbit.

[q7winq7]

It's Ebonics for "good."

Ebonics is the result of the degradation of English into a less sophisticated dialect understood by the less educated in the USA.

You can look all this up.

[Dhiraj959]

Hi , I have seen this file i feel too Good, because NASA have really do a great job Thank u very much.

[Cay Hickson]

"I'm down with that" is not a familiar usage of language in England.  "I'm down" means you're depressed. Doubt your scientist is down, so why is he 'down with that'?