Despite the fact that the United States was under some of the coldest conditions of the decade, and immersed in a winter storm emergency, a historic event happened yesterday right under our noses. NASA's Perseverance rover landed on Mars Thursday afternoon to much fanfare from the team that made it happen at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. And one of those team members was NASA Deputy Chief engineer Keith Comeaux, who happens to be a Baton Rouge native that attended Catholic High, and Louisiana State University. LSU proudly gave a shout-out to Comeaux in a tweet sent from their official page yesterday before the launch. (See below)

The 292.5 million-mile journey from Earth to Mars was watched by millions and celebrated across the world. It was an incredible sight, and made me so proud to be an American! Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk told CNN, via WBRZ in Baton Rouge "This landing is one of those pivotal moments for NASA, the United States, and space exploration globally -- when we know we are on the cusp of discovery and sharpening our pencils, so to speak, to rewrite the textbooks." 

The Perseverance rover will be on a two-year mission to search for signs of ancient life on The Red Planet, and will be bringing samples back to Earth for analysis. Congratulations to Keith Comeaux, and all the NASA members who made this historic event a possibility!


 

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