[Leo M]

Another triumph for NASA and ESA! This morning the Huygens probe successfully landed on Titan. The initial data is already coming in.

After seven years of travel, over billions of miles, with four gravity-assisted maneuvers (Venus twice, Earth, and Jupiter), the Cassini craft released the Huygens probe to descend through the cryogenic atmosphere of Saturn’s largest moon, land on the surface of the most exotic place ever directly explored by human instrumentality, and send back data enough (we do certainly hope) to keep scientists busy for generations.

This is IT, folks. This is what First is all about. Inspiration just doesn't come in a bigger package than this.

At a time when unremittingly bad news engulfs us with mudslides, earthquakes, tsunamis, and war; at a time when humanity stands at the crossroads between civilization and barbarity; at a time when our simple need is for something, somewhere to turn out right; the scientific community has given us a reason to say “Well done!”.

Usually I would not presume to speak for others, but in this case I think I can safely state that the entire First community stands in awe of this singular achievement. And feeling the need to put a human face on things, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Dr. Dave Lavery (who would, I know, be the last person ever to take credit for this; however, his is the name I associate with planetary exploration), and the entire group of scientists, engineers, and technicians whose vision and plain hard work allow us to point with pride to a success based not on overcoming an enemy, but on working together to uncover the secrets of nature. Bravo!

And for the students coming along – you can do the same!

Aim for the stars – you just might hit a planet.