MARS PATHFINDER SCIENCE AREA

there is a room full of computers
there are white people dressed casually
they are talking excitedly about pieces of paper
 

CAN YOU GIVE ME THE GREEN FIELD MODULATION PLEASE?
 
many wear ID tags
a computer screen flickers
ten laptops are arranged around a conference table
a man is showing one of the flight controllers a screen
 

SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS HERE ARE CHOMPING AT THE BIT TO GET THE ROVER OUT TO LOOK AT THOSE ROCKS
 
one mars mission = 1/10 B-1 bomber
one mars mission = one free hospital in operation for ten years
one mars mission = 1.5 million sandwiches
 

ROGER WE'LL CHECK THE NUMBER OF INVALID FRAMES
 
there is a shelf of blue binders
the flight controller is upset about something
 

WE DID UPLINK THAT COMMAND
 
they are sending a sequence of instructions
to tell the lander to deploy both ramps & stand up the rover
 

REAL TIME COMMAND IS OFF
 
mission control is a white man in shorts
and a t-shirt
 

OKAY YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO SEND IN AN S10 DID YOU?
 
when was the election when the american public voted on the mars mission? i forget.
 

GO AHEAD ROVER

WE ARE GETTING TELEMETRY

COPY THAT
 
the fourth planet from the sun, mars
 

BOTH RAMPS DEPLOYED

[appause]
 
sanddunes
windswept material
mountains with layers
scoured areas
 

IT DID NOT SNAP BACK OR TORQUE
 
the horns of the crescent point upward in the sky
 

OKAY OUR PRELIMINARY MESSAGE IS WE'RE UNSTOWED
 
earthrise @ 11 oclock tomorrow morning
welfare for astronauts
the rover is named sojourner truth
its twin on earth is named marie curie
 

COPY THAT ROVER
 
mars is a lot like tuscon