Lacey Mason, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – As space lovers everywhere watched the live feed of NASA’s Curiosity landing, another star was born — but this one wasn’t in the sky. He was in the NASA control room.
A man with a black and red mohawk was shown on the screen, working closely with his peers as the team prepared for Curiosity’s (ultimately flawless) landing on Mars.
Twitter quickly began to blow up with comments about the mysterious “Mohawk Guy.”
+50 points to the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab employee with the mohawk.
— Justin Pickard (@justinpickard) August 6, 2012
Superannuated Hippy, Pompadour, and Captain Mohawk are my favorite NASA heroes.
— Glenn Fleishman (@GlennF) August 6, 2012
The world I enjoy living in is where a guy at NASA can have a multicolor mohawk. ow.ly/cKZnF
— Sidian M.S. Jones (@SidianMSJones) August 6, 2012
As many scoured the Internet, it wasn’t long before “Mohawk Guy’s” identity was revealed. Well, at least his Twitter identity.
So incredible to be a part of this team and all that we’ve accomplished. Impossible not to be an emotional wreck.
#msl#jpl#nasa#curiosity— Bobak F. (@tweetsoutloud) August 6, 2012
According to his Twitter account, which identifies him as “Bobak F.,” the mysterious man with the mohawk is a flight director for the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity mission.
He also likes exercise and is a “mediocre shortstop.”
After the safe landing, many continued to tweet their praises of the flight director.
i don’t know much about science but I’m pretty sure we couldn’t have done it without Mohawk Guy
@tweetsoutloud— Danny Baranowsky (@dannyBstyle) August 6, 2012
But others found the attention being paid to him annoying.
So we’re landing a robot on Mars and my Twitter feed is busy objectifying the
@nasajpl Activity Lead@tweetsoutloud (hot mohawk guy).— Kate Darling (@grok_) August 6, 2012
So, while the jury may still be out on what “Mohawk Guy” thinks of his newfound fame, one thing is for sure: Curiosity wasn’t alone in making an impact Monday morning.
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(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
