NASA'S RED DREAM

Word just released is that data collected on two astronauts currently halfway through a yearlong mission on the International Space Station will assist NASA scientists preparing for a proposed manned mission to Mars.  The likelihood that water may exist on the planet—and thus the possibility of life forms—is the impetus behind this most recent effort.  It’s this fixation on water which fuels the research enthusiasm.

NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (MEP) is nothing new.  Formed in 1993, MEP employed orbital spacecraft and Mars rovers, as well as countless scientists and technicians, in the search for life on the Red Planet.  To date the efforts have been less than fruitful.   Roughly two-thirds of all spacecraft bound for Mars failed before any observation occurred.

Nonetheless the quest for the origin of life goes on, and there is no bit of trivia too insignificant not to be cited as a basis for renewed endeavor.  Said John Grunsfeld, Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate: “Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected.”  These sentiments are seconded by Michael Meyer, the lead scientist for MEP, who declared: “It seems that the more we study Mars, the more we learn how life could be supported and where there are resources to support life in the future.”

We have a problem: In addition to water, life also requires sources of energy to survive.  A prevalence of superoxides on Mars makes life at the surface of the planet unlikely, ruling out sunlight.  This relegates any carbon-based life forms to the subsurface, with an energy source of geothermal or chemical.  Whatever forms of life may be encountered will not resemble the creatures from Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds.  Instead, they’ll be primitive and lackluster.

Irrespective of revelations—or lack of them—the odyssey will continue.    If nothing of consequence materializes, something will be conjured up and exploited, for as with any government program, perpetuation is the primary aim.  It’s just such a project as this which bolsters NASA’s 2015 budget of $17.4 billion.

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 In addition to this Straight Talk by Al Jacobs, I’m now generating a monthly Financial Newsletter.  It normally appears the first of each month and may be viewed on my website.  Click onto http://www.onthemoneytrail.net/