Let’s Go To Mars

I'm a little late on this, but having expected President Bush to make an announcement in October and then December, I thought it best to wait for confirmation.

Friday, the president's press secretary, Scott McClellan, told reporters:

The president directed his administration to do a comprehensive review of our space policy, including our priorities and the future of the program, and the president will have more to say on it next week.

There is a great deal of speculation, both in the mainstream media and the blogosphere, about what President Bush will actually announce. I hope that it will be to send Americans to Mars, sooner rather than later.

I am a certifiable space nut. When I was young I used to get up early enough to watch the Mercury and Gemini launches. Living in California meant that launch time was usually 4:00 am. I went to Edwards Air Force Base to watch the shuttle prototype Enterprise's first free flight. I even dragged my family, three year-old in tow, to watch a shuttle launch in Florida. I have always wanted to go to Mars.

Perhaps the best reason to go to Mars is to fulfill the basic human psychological need to explore. Humans have historically been nomadic and driven to explore new territory, from hunter gatherers to the settlers of the New World. Exploration inspires us, providing adventure. fresh ideas and new territory.

Mars can fulfill this need. If you doubt that it can you need only examine the excitement generated by Spirit, NASA’s new robotic Martian rover. The reaction to the successful landing of the Spirit rover on Mars demonstrates the public’s fascination with Mars.

USA Today refers to Spirit as, "The hottest action hero of 2004 is 4 feet tall, looks like a golf cart and stars in a feel-good Mars mania blockbuster that is gripping the nation."

Spirit's every move leads nightly newscasts, and it isn’t even roving yet.

NASA's web site received 1.45 billion hits in the five days following Spirit's landing. NASA officials believe Spirit will be the biggest online event ever for the U.S. government.

With Spirit's landing on Mars, space appeal overcame sex appeal on the Web. In Google's ranking of the search queries that increased the most from Dec. 29 to Jan. 5, NASA was No. 1, followed by the briefly married Britney Spears. Mars photos were No. 3.

Even the Postal Service sells Marvin the Martian ties.

Hollywood has long loved Mars. The 1953 adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, about invading Martians, and Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1990 Total Recall were big hits.

Our fascination with Mars isn't new. Humans have fantasized about Martians since Giovanni Schiaparelli thought he saw canals on Mars.

All this excitement over the landing of a remote controlled robot onto a rock strewn landscape that looks like Afghanistan. The reaction to Spirit demonstrates that the public will be thrilled and inspired by sending humans to Mars.

There are other, more rational reasons to go to Mars.

Science: Like America's effort to reach the moon, sending humans to Mars will cause a boom in scientific discoveries. Like the Apollo program it will inspire young people to become scientists.

Technology: Sending humans to Mars will produce new technology and products, in addition to the thousands of spinoffs which have already resulted from the technology developed for space flight. These spinoffs include all kinds of things, from improved brake linings to virtual reality.

Economics: A program to send humans to Mars will also generate econonmic activity. It is estimated that every dollar the U.S. spends on the space program generates $7 in the form of corporate and personal income taxes from increased jobs and economic growth.

Human Survival Insurance: Mars has the resources that can support life. It has water in the form of ice, carbon and nitrogen. Mars can be the testing ground proving whether humanity can become a multi-planet species.

Ronald Reagan said that Americans "have every right to dream great dreams." Sending humans to Mars is a great dream. It is in the national interest in the same way it was in the national interest to build the transcontinental railroad or Panama Canal.

Finally, to paraphrase George Leigh Mallory, we should go to Mars because it is there and we can.

Comments

[amy]

i got some questions to ask. please help me.

question 1. What kinds of mission sent to mars? the 4 different kinds

question 2. How does nasa choice when to send a spacecraft to mars?

question 3. What is the science behind a spacecraft launch?

question 4. What are the challenge to send a person to mars?

please help me

[pau]

WE CAN SEND ONE OF THOSE CO CARTS TO THE MOON FOR ABOUT TWO HUNDRED MILLION AND WE WOULD WANT IT TO WORK NIGHT AND DAY FOR ONE OF YOUR MARTION YEARS. i AM JUST SAYING THAT WE SHOULD GO AS SLOWLY AS POSSIBLE OR FAILING THAT LIVE A LOT LONGER.