Out of the Ordinary
Ray Bradbury books are remembered thanks to Curiosity Rover's landing site
Mackenzie Dye
On what would be the late science fiction author’s 92nd birthday, NASA scientists have decided to name the Mars landing site Bradbury Landing.
Ray Bradbury books were given tribute August 22 when the Curiosity Rover’s twitter dedicated its landing spot on Mars to Bradbury. The day the site was dedicated to Bradbury would have been the author’s 92nd birthday.
“In tribute, I dedicate my landing spot on Mars to you, Ray Bradbury. Greetings from Bradbury Landing,” tweeted Curiosity. The tweet also contained a picture of the rover’s first tracks.
Ray Bradbury books have come across us in our education at some point. The book most of us have read in elementary school or junior high school, “Fahrenheit 451,” is a prime example of Bradbury’s use of the futuristic setting to make a point in regards to science and technology.
The book being cited in the rover’s dedication is “The Martian Chronicles,” which is set on the Red Planet during humanity’s process of colonizing Mars, according to the NY Daily News. The stories were combined to make up Ray Bradbury’s first book, which made a significant footprint in the success of the science fiction genre.
The mission for the Curiosity Rover is to further explore the planet’s ability to provide an environment for human life, mirroring Ray Bradbury fiction. The mission will use ten scientific instruments on the rover to determine if the area has ever had conditions to sustain microbial life, according to The Guardian Express.
“Many of us and millions of other readers were inspired in our lives by stories Ray Bradbury wrote to dream of the possibility of life on Mars,” said Michel Meyer, NASA program scientist for Curiosity, The Guardian Express reports.
Ray Bradbury books brought the world of science fiction to a new level, widening the genre’s audience and inspiring more than just writers and scientists. Bradbury Landing will forever be a tribute to the heights reached by the late author, who died in June at the age of 91.
