Obama tells NASA: 'I thought about getting a mohawk myself'

During a Monday call to congratulate NASA for successfully landing the Curiosity rover on Mars, President Barack Obama acknowledged the "special mohawk guy" in the control room who had taken the Internet by storm.

As the world watched the rover landing last week, NASA flight engineer Bobak Ferdowsi became an instant celebrity because of his stars-and-stripes mohawk hairstyle.

"I understand there’s a special mohawk guy that’s working on the mission," Obama told the NASA crew on Monday. "I, in the past, thought about getting a mohawk myself."

"My team keeps on discouraging me," the president added. "Now that he's received marriage proposals from thousands of new Twitter followers, I think I'm going to go back to my team and see if it makes sense. It does sound like NASA's come a long way from the white shirt, dark-rimmed glasses and pocket protector, you know? You guys are a little cooler than you used to be."

The commander-in-chief also had special instructions for the scientists as they explored the surface of Mars.

"If in fact you do make contact with Martians, please let me know right away," he said. "I've got a lot of other things on my plate, but I expect that would go to the top of the list. Even if they're just microbes, that would be pretty exciting."

Watch this video from NASA TV, uploaded to YouTube Aug. 13, 2012.

Watch this video from CNN, broadcast Aug. 6, 2012.