Why Mars? Because It's There

LA Times ^ | 1-21-04 | Carl Cannon

[ambrose]

Why Mars? Because It's There

By Carl M. Cannon

When George W. Bush announced his intention to reestablish a human presence on the moon and send explorers to Mars, the usual criticisms followed behind like vapors in a jet stream.

The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, claimed the mission couldn't succeed unless NASA was privatized. Rep. John M. Spratt Jr. of South Carolina, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said Bush's vision "has an element of escapism about it." Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democratic presidential contender, expressed support for future space travel, but not until we've balanced the budget, eliminated our dependence on foreign oil - and conquered disease.

This is not new thinking. Before Thomas Jefferson dispatched Lewis and Clark to explore the vast lands obtained in the Louisiana Purchase, critics protested the rationale of the expedition. "A great waste, a wilderness," complained a Boston newspaper. "We are to give money of which we have too little, for land of which we already have too much." Federalist politician Joshua Green added that the endeavor was "a shameful gross speculation, pretending to bring we knew not what, situated we knew not where, and [with] no more right to it than - to land in the moon."

[leadpenny]

Why Mars?

Because Columbia happened and the subject needed to be changed.

[onyx]

Why Mars? Because Barney Frank said, "Before I go to Mars, I'd like to get a train from Fall River-New Bedford to Boston."

[ambrose]

That's odd - I thought Barney Frank was most interested in exploring Uranus.

[tame]

That's odd - I thought Barney Frank was most interested in exploring Uranus.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Scary thought.

[onyx]

That's odd - I thought Barney Frank was most interested in exploring Uranus.

LMAO!!!!!!

Ambrose, I dang near awakened the household laughing so loud.

That has to be quote of the day.

[ambrose]

oh yes, will there be no end to the "Uranus" jokes...

I have to wonder if we'll still be making the Uranus jokes by the time our technology advances enough to send a manned mission to that planet. LOL.

[risk]

"Because It's There" --George Leigh Mallory

According to Reuters, Edmund Hillary himself is not pleased with the crowds: "I personally, if I were a younger man, would not wish to be on an expedition with so many people around. Climbing Everest now is no longer the big challenge it was, but just a walkway with ladders and fixed ropes all along the route ..."

[tame]

ping.

[onyx]

I haven't heard any Uranus jokes, but I'm hoping to.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Because exploration keeps us on our toes and makes us think! We learn new things and that pushes technology and discovery.

Exploration makes our country healthier, wealthier, wiser and stronger.

Exploration improves the quality and safety of our everyday lives.

[risk]

Have you ever visited Hawaii? It's a national treasure. Consider the Polynesians and how they spread out among the south Pacific on small, frail boats. I'm sure that thousands never made landfall, instead drowning or starving on the Pacific, the twinkling stars over their boats coldly ignoring their fates.

But hundreds did survive. Their legacy of adventure and bravery should inspire us all to reach out beyond the earth.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The Startracker imaged this spectacular shot of the sunrise, planets, and Moon. This color-enhanced image shows, from right to left, the Moon lit by the Earth, the terminator - or boundary between light and dark - into the dark side with the solar corona just rising over the limb, and the bright planets Saturn, Mars, and Mercury. Several dimmer stars can also be seen. The Startracker algorithm achieved a star match, realizing that the Sun and planets were not in the correct position to be stars, and ignored them. Source

[Professional Engineer]

Why Mars? Because I want this to be a portrait of my kids