Poem From Space: Curiosity Takes a Turn

I was inspired to write a poem about NASA's new rover "Curiosity" when I saw this image from an article in the Los Angeles Times.

Images taken by the Curiosity rover on Mars show a plume of dust, left, which had disappeared when 
another photo was snapped 45 minutes later. Engineers say the plume indicates the crash-landing 
of the spacecraft that delivered the rover to the Martian surface. (NASA)

Curiosity Takes a Turn 

Arthur C. Clarke whispers from his grave –

Strains from Songs of Distant Earth –

As the images transmit

From Curiosity on Mars.

The robotic cruiser had descended

Onto a barren landscape.

Her mission: to gather data;

To find any possible evidence of life;

To take note of even a distant notion of cellular being;

To employ scientific curiosity at every turn.

True to her mission,

Curiosity began at once

Surveying the undiscovered country –

A land not seen by human eye.

Then turning,

A plume of dust

Registers in the unblinking lens:

An impact cloud upon the horizon.

The mother ship that dropped her in this

Strange new place –

Now scattered remnants.

She records the data:

No way back home.

Nothing left but to proceed as planned

In silent isolation.

                                                                               Charles Kinnaird

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Here's a fascinating video of how we got there:

And here is some actual footage of Curiosity's descent: