It's Been 10 Years Since Humans Landed on Mars

On October 19, 1999, a 5 man-6 woman crew made history with their landing on Mars only 6 months after departing from Cape Canaveral.

The landing was watched on television by over a billion people worldwide.

Where were you the moment the first human steps landed on Mars?
 
The whole thing was a bit futile to be honest, I mean we failed to land in a part where there might have actually been moisture. It was all grandstanding and not much actual science.
 
I watched it on the big screen at the Armstrong museum at Tranquility base. It was awesome sitting no more than 30 meters away from the Eagle lander watching as Captain Chang stepped off the ladder slipped and fell backwards into the canal:)
 
On October 19, 1999, a 5 man-6 woman crew made history with their landing on Mars only 6 months after departing from Cape Canaveral.

The landing was watched on television by over a billion people worldwide.

Where were you the moment the first human steps landed on Mars?

I was reporting on the Shanghai revolt at the time. It was ironic, at least from the point of view of Captain Chang and the other PRC citizens aboard the ship, that the country they departed from did not exist when they returned. China's greatest space triumph, albeit accomplished with Russian and Iranian Empire help, was its swan song.

Still, we all saw the folks at the US/European settlement at Cydonia hold a celebration before going to the landing site to lay the memorial plaque on the graves of Colonel Wei and Dr. Malenkov...
 
I was an intern for the White House under President Al Gore. He used the moment to commemorate the life of former President Robert Kennedy and deceased President Bill Clinton in the Rose Garden speech.

As for the issue of Martian colonization, I seriously doubt we will see long-term colonization. With the McCain administration obsessed with its plans of nuclear confrontation with the deployment of troops into Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan; Nanjing sending naval forces and military troops to aid Tehran; and Russia threatening to launch an oil embargo against the EU; colonization is not going to happen anythime soon!!
 
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