I'm totally encouraged to make such 'mistakes'.

=p

You're Brazilian, yeah? If so, I assume your first language is Portugese? Does that language do the male/female thing a la Spanish? 'Fello' vs. 'fella' you could say? I'm terribly ignorant in these matters.

Or was that just a sexy joke?

I'm pretty ignorant there, too.

None of the options above. While we do genderize words by placing 'o' or 'a' at their ends, I wasn't trying to do that at all. Nor was I joking.

I turned to the feminine gender both because of its name (Curiosity) and because it is a vehicle, which I understand are both usually referred as 'she' in American culture, right? The use of the term 'fella' (as in casual 'fellow') sprung from my inability to come up with any other short term at the time that wouldn't detract the intensity of the word 'gorgeous'.

=)

interesting
The tradition is for vehicles (but mainly ships) to be referred to as female, which I think is common in western Europe and countries settled by people from there; in the modern US it's more of a mark of someone who takes ships really seriously. What about "Curiosity" said "feminine" to you?
also SoMP, you should take up learning another language... I could tell you about mental benefits or getting new perspective, but honestly I mostly think it's a good idea for everyone and personally it's a really good feeling overcoming unfamiliar grammar, syntax, conjugation, etc.

I'm totally encouraged to make such 'mistakes'.

=p

You're Brazilian, yeah? If so, I assume your first language is Portugese? Does that language do the male/female thing a la Spanish? 'Fello' vs. 'fella' you could say? I'm terribly ignorant in these matters.

Or was that just a sexy joke?

I'm pretty ignorant there, too.

None of the options above. While we do genderize words by placing 'o' or 'a' at their ends, I wasn't trying to do that at all. Nor was I joking.

I turned to the feminine gender both because of its name (Curiosity) and because it is a vehicle, which I understand are both usually referred as 'she' in American culture, right? The use of the term 'fella' (as in casual 'fellow') sprung from my inability to come up with any other short term at the time that wouldn't detract the intensity of the word 'gorgeous'.

=)

I'm totally encouraged to make such 'mistakes'.

=p

You're Brazilian, yeah? If so, I assume your first language is Portugese? Does that language do the male/female thing a la Spanish? 'Fello' vs. 'fella' you could say? I'm terribly ignorant in these matters.

Or was that just a sexy joke?

I'm pretty ignorant there, too.

=p

I actually wondered if that's what he meant, but if it is he posted and quoted the wrong message *shrugs* I guess we'l never know... since we couldn't ask General Vagueness, that would just be ridiculous.

I knew about Curiosity's camera on an extendable arm. I did mean combining "fella" and "she". I know "fellow" can be used in an official capacity for a member of certain kinds (maybe any kind?) of organization but it's just as common if not more common for it to refer to a man, and I've never heard or seen "fella" used to refer to a female.

I actually wondered if that's what he meant, but if it is he posted and quoted the wrong message *shrugs* I guess we'l never know... since we couldn't ask General Vagueness, that would just be ridiculous.

:) Well, since you're curious...

Curiosity's arm is about 2 meters long, so when it's stretched out in front of the rover and the camera is pointed backward (like taking a selfie) you can see either some of the rover, the surrounding terrain, or both in each image. The arm "poses" were designed so that the arm itself could be digitally removed from the final mosaic because the underlying terrain would be imaged from all the various camera angles. After all the images were taken they were stitched together and geometrically warped so you could see the whole rover exactly as she would look (minus the big arm sticking out) in her parking spot on Mars (a place called Yellowknife Bay where we drilled the first two holes into the surface of another planet).

But don't just take my word for it. National Geographic ran a story that explains the whole thing and even includes a movie that shows a simulation of how the rover acquired all the pictures.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/121204-curiosity-mars-rover-portrait-science-space/

I believe he is referring to the use of the male noun "fella" combined with the female pronoun "she."

And here I was hoping he meant, 'How does Curiosity take a picture of itself?'

I believe he is referring to the use of the male noun "fella" combined with the female pronoun "she."

I'm not sure if 'fella' is exactly male-specific. Is it?

Indeed you are right by dictionary definition, but colloquially it is usually used as a male noun in my experience.

I believe he is referring to the use of the male noun "fella" combined with the female pronoun "she."

I'm not sure if 'fella' is exactly male-specific. Is it?

Either way, "gorgeous little fella, isn't she" sounds okay to me.

Vale,
Perseus

Without the arrow or a caption or some kind of outside information, how is anyone supposed to (fully) know what they're looking at?

They're not, but that's where the ability to post two versions of the same image on the internet comes into play.

Gorgeous little fella, ain't she?

How does that work? (Do I want to know?)

Hey, Bungie, are we going to see Earth from Saturn?

Take away the arrow, and I think this is my favorite picture of all time.

Without the arrow or a caption or some kind of outside information, how is anyone supposed to (fully) know what they're looking at?