Obama science advisor demonstrates ignorance of space history?

Can't find a recording/transcript yet, but White House Science & Technology Advisor John Holdren said something on the NASA live stream to the effect that no other country had put a lander on another planet. This was shortly after the landing- not in the later briefing at 2:15am EDT.

There's talk about it on Twitter. Seems worth highlighting when confirmation of the exact wording is available...

Glad to hear it landed OK - there were a lot of people saying the whole get up was too complicated.

Keats had better apologise: To Balboa - who by most accounts was not a very understanding individual.

Once knew a bird who went to Darien as an AFS exchange student. She said things were still pretty wild there.

Kinch - The way I heard it, many people still think the setup was too complicated although it might have been the only way with a chance of working. NASA got away with it, that's all.

Wow, not bad.... Not bad at all.

My dad had me memorize "On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer" for an 8th grade poetry recital. I can still recite it from memory.

Thanks, Dad.
And thank you, Gerard.

Keats would love it.