Comedian Steve Martin (
@SteveMartinToGo) used social networking site Twitter to jokingly share his thoughts on launching his very own mission to Mars a couple of days after Curiosity (
@MarsCuriosity), the rover sent by NASA (
@NASA) landed on the red planet.
A tweet was sent back by Curiosity saying:
The smart reply was also linked from Twitter to a website indicating the planetary protection clauses of NASA, specifically protecting other planets from acquiring the germs and microbes coming from Earth.
Curiosity currently has over 1.1 million followers. The famous rover has a feed
@MarsCuriosityTwitter which aims to have a tone that will best suit the most excellent rover produced for Mars.
There are three voices in all behind the feed provided by Veronica McGregor (
@VeronicaMcG), Courtney O? Connor (
@CourtOConnor) and Stephanie L. Smith (
@Stephist). Several celebrities tweet continuously to the rover account such as Richard Branson and Britney Spears.
Aside from Twitter, other social media sites also continue to feature Curiosity. Its
Facebook account?has increased in following ten times after landing with 337,000 'likes'. Several individuals and teams are constantly getting information to share about the rover, particularly online bloggers and journalists.
NASA aims to provide quick information regarding the findings on Mars as well as maintain the privacy of specific information. Twitter feeds and other information given on social media sites will keep fans abreast while other types of data and news might be saved for official announcements through other means and traditional instruments.
NASA actually has a social team that functions to release information in the shortest time possible. To ensure speed, at least one individual on the spacecraft or team should have authority to allow tweet breaking news. In Curiosity, Victoria McGregor has authority over their posts on Twitter.
