Bring on the Martians

Curiosity benefits us all
Fairfield Daily Republica
By Kelvin Wade
From page A11 | August 09, 2012 |

When I was in Mr. Encalada’s sixth-grade class at Tolenas Elementary, I not only wrote Martianused to write stories about a Martian boy while at the same time claiming to my friends that I was a Martian and had an invisible dog. So as someone who has always had a (not so healthy) fascination with Mars, the Curiosity landing this week thrilled me to no end. But with massive debt on the federal, state and local level, can we afford the space program?

While the Curiosity rover has captured headlines, made a heartthrob out of Mohawk-wearing NASA nerd Bobak Ferdowsi and rekindled American pride in our space program, some see space travel as a luxury we can’t afford. At $2.6 billion, is it worth it to send a robot to another planet?

I can understand those who don’t see what the big deal is. While the video animations and explanations of the “Seven minutes of terror” landing of the Curiosity rover released by NASA was spectacular, when NASA released the actual stop motion video of the landing, it looked far less impressive.

And yes, we already have the Opportunity rover that’s been rolling around Mars since 2004. Now we have two probes taking pictures and conducting experiments while several satellites orbit the red planet. And when they do send photos back, it’s of the same hazy red rubble we’ve been seeing for years.

In fact, despite the early pictures beamed back from Curiosity, the truly interesting ones have been the manipulated pics floating around cyberspace of Marvin the Martian on the red planet or Imperial Walkers from Star Wars in the distance on Mars.

Also, finding out how much water or ice Mars had in the past is fascinating to the average NASA scientist, but the average American often finds headlines of Martian discoveries far less thrilling. While scientists look for traces of organic matter, a public who’ve gorged on science fiction books and movies expects more.

Spending on things like the Mars program is an important investment. Why? The knowledge alone is important to mankind just as 15th century exploration in the New World was. It will also help us plan and execute human landings on the red planet sometime in the 2030s.

Beyond that, the space program has benefited U.S. industry immensely. Innovations in insulation during the Apollo program led to better home insulation, clothing linings and food packaging. Space-related technology resulted in superior athletic shoe design, water filtration and purification systems, flame retardant textiles, hazardous gas detectors, kidney dialysis machines, CAT scan machines, exercise equipment, freeze dried foods and a myriad of other things we use. All told, more than 1,400 NASA inventions have benefited U.S. industry.

Beyond the knowledge, technological and long-term financial benefits, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson claims the greatest benefit may be the rousing of the American imagination. When we see a successful project like Curiosity, it reminds us that we’re a nation that can do big things. It’s no small thing that even today when faced with a seemingly insurmountable problem, we often harken back to putting a man on the moon as inspiration.

At a time of fiscal uncertainty, it wouldn’t be hard to come up with a list of things that one could buy or a number of jobs that could be created with $2.6 billion. But some things we spend money on are true investments.

Just last week, NASA announced that all but one of the American flags we planted on the moon are still standing. With the Mars program, it’s good to be reminded that we’re still capable of greatness. Peace.