Category: Mars Surface Laboratory

Years ago at a NASA press conference for a shuttle flight I went to the mike and said something like "thanks for the update on the STS OMS pods but might I suggest that you are employing excess AFE during these briefings?" After a beat to watch for baffled expressions from the front of the room I added "Oh, don't you know?  AFE is acronyms for everything." I'd been sitting there soaked with alphabet soup and not always sure what the agency engineers and flight managers with their relentless insider patter were trying to say.

   Looks like somebody else has the same feeling and came to the rescue of readers who might be watching streaming video or audio feeds during the upcoming MSL - er Mars Science Laboratory, aka Curosity - attempt to land on our neighbor planet during the late evening and early morning Sunday-Monday.

• AP - Alicia Chang:...