Mankato — Contrary to popular notions, the U.S. space program didn’t end with the mothballing of the space shuttle. While Discovery remains confined to history, Curiosity reminds us that America’s fascination with worlds beyond our world is alive and well.
On Nov. 26, earth’s biggest extraterrestrial explorer, NASA’s Curiosity rover, careened on a course toward Mars with the express purpose of searching for evidence that the red planet may once have supported life. The mission is not small. It costs $2.5 billion. It’s not short. Curiosity will need more than eight months to reach Mars.
This is not like any other Mars mission. Said Peter Theisinger, Mars Science Lab project manager with Lockheed-Martin, “This is the most complicated mission we have attempted on the surface of Mars.”
Not only are billions at stake. So is science. So is prestige. More than three dozen missions have attempted to reach Mars for scientific purposes, yet less than half of them have made it. . . .
Much grumbling has been heard over the past year about the shrinking of NASA’s budget, tied in part to the occasion of the space shuttle’s final mission in March of this year. . .. .
Even so, while the shuttle business remains to be sorted out, Curiosity rises as proof that America still has a grand vision for space. Certainly some can second-guess the wisdom of plunking down $2.5 billion in this era of economic stress, but others who criticize the U.S. for being chintzy in regard to its stalled shuttle program cannot say that we’ve lost our will to explore. . . .
The Free Press
Mankato, Minn.
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel?
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind
Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
