Obama's call to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Photo Credit: ABC News

President Obama called NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Monday to congratulate the team involved with the landing on Mars last week of the rover Curiosity. "You guys have done an outstanding job, you’ve made us all proud," the president said. "If in fact you do make contact with Martians, please let me know right away," the president quipped. "I’ve got a lot of other things on my plate, but I suspect that that will go to the top of the list. Even if they’re just microbes, it will be pretty exciting." Obama also joked about Curiosity's flight director, Bobak Ferdowsi, who has become something of an Internet sensation because of his mohawk hairdo."I, in the past, thought about getting a Mohawk myself," he said, adding that rocket scientists don't appear to be as nerdy they once were. "You guys are a little cooler than you used to be." More from Politico’s 44.