I read in the news today that NASA has written up a plan to prepare our astronauts for a trip to Mars. It's one of those moments that I've always dreamed of, but never really could say for sure if I'd get to see happen. This is of couse some REALLY long-term planning. They first want to test the astronauts' voyage through simulations aboard the International Space Station and the Moon (our pretend Mars), which would probably last somewhere between 2-3 years. If that goes well, then they'd begin to put together plans for a real trip to the Great Beyond.
As an avid SciFi fan, I've read and watched about a hundred different writers' visions for what our lives would be like if we lived on different planets in the future. It's one of the final frontiers so the imagination can run wild with what might be out there. To think that these dreams may some day be a reality would be so amazing.
At this point I think that for sure I'll be around to see the first (wo)man walk on Mars. (Barring an untimely death on my part, or the Apocalypse.) And by the end of my life, I think I could even see people living on Mars, creating a new civilization, even. That would truly be remarkable. It's beyond words how I would feel if that happened.
With everything that's happening right now, I can't help but think back to the 50s and 60s, when the Cold War was icily raging, and everyone was living with a slightly nervous edge, or maybe even full-fledged fear. And then JFK turned that fear into competition and excitement when he turned the goal of the Cold War from potentially another world war into a race to the Moon. I think that's exactly the sort of thing we need now. Our economy's in a rut, our country is involved in a war that most people don't even want us to be in, gas prices are skyrocketing, and our politicians keep talking about how terrorists are out to get us so they're going to take away more of our freedoms. What we really need is a distraction from how crappy life is right now. And I think that distraction should be Mars.
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2 comments:
I thought the distraction was The Office
There might be better options than Mars; there's not all that much to like about Mars.
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