Lincoln, NE - While it's not uncommon for one of the thousands of red balloons released at every Nebraska football home game to wind up far from home in places such as Michigan and even New York, Friday afternoon's discovery by NASA's Curiosity rover easily takes the cake.
NASA has confirmed that on Friday afternoon its Curiosity rover had come across one of the balloons on the surface of Mars. The iconic block N can be clearly seen in the photo released by NASA.
"We know balloons are capable of traveling incredibly long distances over short amounts of time, but this is something else," NASA spokesperson George Diller said. "We're not even mad. That's amazing."
Environmental groups from around the nation were quick to point to this discovery as an example of environmental damage massive balloon releases can cause, even to a planet that has been largely untouched by humans.
"All this time we've been trying to find life on Mars and it would be just our luck if any potential life on the planet managed to choke on this f***ing rubbery piece of garbage," said a spokesperson from the Florida based environmental group "Balloons Blow."
Reactions from Huskers fans has been mixed, with some defending the tradition and some acknowledging that perhaps it's time to put the tradition to bed. Many expressed doubt at the idea of a balloon being able to leave the Earth's atmosphere, travel millions of miles in outer space and enter Mar's atmosphere unharmed. A few fans even went so far as to express belief that the entire incident was faked as a ploy by environmental groups to gain sympathy.
"I mean, come on," said Lincoln resident Haley Selk. "You can clearly see an exposed human arm holding up the balloon in the photo."
Other Husker fans were swept up with Husker pride at the thought of a symbol of the football program traveling that far into our solar system.
"I actually think it's kind of cool. Man, they just make 'em tougher here," Husker football fan Jerry Garcia said. "America has its flag planted on the moon and the state of Nebraska has a balloon on Mars."
At press time NASA announced that a Husker balloon released during the 2003 season may have just passed the Voyager 1 space probe in interstellar space.
NASA has confirmed that on Friday afternoon its Curiosity rover had come across one of the balloons on the surface of Mars. The iconic block N can be clearly seen in the photo released by NASA.
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| The photo released by NASA on Friday November 16, 2018. |
"We know balloons are capable of traveling incredibly long distances over short amounts of time, but this is something else," NASA spokesperson George Diller said. "We're not even mad. That's amazing."
Environmental groups from around the nation were quick to point to this discovery as an example of environmental damage massive balloon releases can cause, even to a planet that has been largely untouched by humans.
"All this time we've been trying to find life on Mars and it would be just our luck if any potential life on the planet managed to choke on this f***ing rubbery piece of garbage," said a spokesperson from the Florida based environmental group "Balloons Blow."
Reactions from Huskers fans has been mixed, with some defending the tradition and some acknowledging that perhaps it's time to put the tradition to bed. Many expressed doubt at the idea of a balloon being able to leave the Earth's atmosphere, travel millions of miles in outer space and enter Mar's atmosphere unharmed. A few fans even went so far as to express belief that the entire incident was faked as a ploy by environmental groups to gain sympathy.
"I mean, come on," said Lincoln resident Haley Selk. "You can clearly see an exposed human arm holding up the balloon in the photo."
Other Husker fans were swept up with Husker pride at the thought of a symbol of the football program traveling that far into our solar system.
"I actually think it's kind of cool. Man, they just make 'em tougher here," Husker football fan Jerry Garcia said. "America has its flag planted on the moon and the state of Nebraska has a balloon on Mars."
At press time NASA announced that a Husker balloon released during the 2003 season may have just passed the Voyager 1 space probe in interstellar space.
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