The Curiosity landing on Mars this week is a good reminder of how close science and science fiction often are.  The technology used to get the rover on the surface of the planet is nothing short of amazing, and the images coming back from Mars are sure to inspire the next generation of sci-fi authors.

It's been fun to see people's reactions to this landing.  My favorites include this comic from xkcd and this comic by Walt Handelsman:



I also really enjoyed the Google doodle from this past Monday:


Olympics plus space rovers--what could be better?

Well, there might be one thing.  Look who Curiosity found on Mars!

What are your favorite pictures, links, images, etc. from the Curiosity landing?  Let us know in the comments!

Here are some of the other fun things we found for you this week:

• Along similar space-related lines, the Perseid meteor shower is this weekend, and it looks like it's going to be really great, since the moon is waning, so its light won't get in the way of seeing shooting stars. (IT Wire)

• All of the Harry Potter chapter head illos. (Geekologie)

• It wouldn't be Friday if I didn't have some Firefly or Whedon-related link for you, and today is definitely Friday.  Here's a 7-foot long model of Serenity made entirely out of LEGOs.  Seriously, who has that many LEGOs?  And more importantly, how can I get that many? (Geek Tyrant

• Congratulations to the winners of the Mythopoeic Awards, as well as to the World Fantasy Award nominees! (Locus)

• A very interesting article from Damien Walter about women and hard science fiction. (Guardian)

• The 100 best YA novels, according the recent NPR poll. (NPR)

• And finally, EW is having a Superhero Showdown.  Head over there and vote, and help decide who the greatest superhero ever is!  (Or is that the superest superhero ever?) (EW)

Happy weekend, everyone!