Salocin

Going to Mars

It's very exciting to see the Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, get ready to roll onto the Martian surface. I think it's quite easy to forget how far we've come.

Thinking back to the last time we successfully sent something mobile to Mars (and I take huge liberties saying 'we', as I am not American, but hope that I can feel that this is being done, at least to some extent, by the human race), this tiny little rover was wandering around the surface, and while I'm sure a few scientists received terabytes of data, I felt that it achieved little in the way of actual physical science. Any step forward is a big step when it is made so far away and in the face of such immense technical difficulties, but the net result of the mission was spiritual rather than tangible. Nevertheless, the mission was seen as a huge achievement - the bleeding edge of exploratory science.

A few downed ships, failed missions and a tragedy in the space program, and another rover is sent to Mars. Orders of magnitude larger than the last one, with greater range, better resolution, more instruments. This is a massive step forwards. The thought that there is quite a large vehicle manoeuvering around on a terrain quite that far away is something we as a species are being much too calm about - it is an achievement that has no equal in its domain. A demonstration of how we have taken the science we already know, and applied it with such careful design and execution that we can further our knowledge and inspire generations of people to come. I stand in awe.

Now Mr. Bush has announced a (somewhat grandiose) view of the future of the space program. It looks terribly ambitious, and we've heard it all before. But this came from Mr. Bush. As anyone who reads between the lines of what I write will know, I'm not his greatest fan. But because of who he is and what I've seen, I have more confidence in this pronouncement because it came from him than I would if any other human being had made it. If only the world at large could step back from their jaded view of the universe and realize the sheer wonder of what is being proposed : a trip to Mars.

Because we have seen this in the movies, we feel on some level as though it has already happened, or as if it should have already happened. After all, if we've seen the faces of our favourite actors against a Martian background, sometimes in fantastical habitats, then surely it cannot be that impossible. We've also read in some of the more imaginative press, theoretical concepts of space elevators and orbital passenger vehicles. But films and future-watching scientific theorists happily gloss over the amazing feat that it is to actually go to another planet. Perhaps a good example of a movie that is more realistic about such things is Apollo 13. It's dangerous, it's bold, it's the work of thousands of dedicated experts, it takes years to prepare, and perfection to execute; and that's just to go to the moon.

So look up at the sky, and let the breath catch in your throat, because we may just be getting ready to do it all on a scale never before seriously envisaged. We might actually be going to Mars.