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NASA's InSight Successfully Lands on Mars (theverge.com)
NASA's latest Mars lander, InSight, successfully touched down on the surface of the Red Planet moments ago, surviving an intense plunge through the Martian atmosphere. From a report: It marks the eighth picture-perfect landing on Mars for NASA, adding to the space agency's impressive track record of putting spacecraft on the planet. And now, InSight's two-year mission has begun, one that entails listening for Marsquakes to learn about the world's interior. After six and a half months of traveling through space, InSight hit the top of Mars' atmosphere a little before 3PM ET. It then made a daring descent to the surface, performing a complex multi-step routine that slowed the lander from more than 12,000 miles per hour to just 5 miles per hour before it hit the ground. To get to the surface safely, InSight had to autonomously deploy a supersonic parachute, gather radar measurements, and ignite its thrusters all at the right time. Altogether, the landing took just under seven minutes to complete, prompting the nickname "seven minutes of terror." "InSight's view is a flat, smooth expanse called Elysium Planitia, but its workspace is below the surface, where it will study Mars' deep interior," Nasa posted Monday, sharing the first photo after the landing.
We call earthquakes earthquakes.
Yes, because they occur on the Earth.
For some reason, earthquakes on Mars are now called Marsquakes?
Well, they certainly aren't earthquakes. Perhaps they should simply be called "quakes". But earthquake is definitely not correct.
If you have to make up a word and make it a proper noun for a really fundamental effect on a science and technology news website, something is seriously wrong.
I'd say marsquake is pretty accurate. Certainly more so than earthquake. "Earthquake" is simply two words put together to describe the ground on the earth shaking. If it occurs on Mars, then to say the Earth is quaking would be very inaccurate.
New words are made up all of the time and the meaning of some words change over time as well. If you don't like it, speak Latin. It's a dead language it isn't supposed to evolve.
Why should taxpayers be saddled with more debt so the nerd class can feel good about itself.
Because without the nerd class, you'd still be driving around in a horse-and-buggy, without nifty things like mobile phones and GPS.
I am glad the NASA commentators were not constantly talking during the 7 minute landing sequence. This is how you build suspense. By not talking and letting the time flow and the suspense build. Hollywood could learn a lot by watching this NASA landing event.
Well done.