MARS

I’ve long since hoped that within my lifetime mankind would make its way across the stars to our infamous, neighboring red planet. The way things are going (nowhere) now, such a possibility is fading fast. Once the latest Atlantis shuttle mission is complete NASA will have officially hung up its spurs. I’m all for the retirement of the Space Shuttle Program; an expensive, obsolete technology and overall outdated system. It served us well, taught us many valuable things. God bless. The problem, however, is that we have no phase-shift, no follow-through pursuit. There are no plans for a new and improved means of space travel, despite the numerous theories that have been floating around for the past decade. This is bullshit. I know times are tough, what with the economy and all, but still… 

Space exploration is not some luxury or recreational pastime. It is perhaps the very spear tip of human evolution in ways both direct and indirect. We should be well on our course in developing the first manned exploration of Mars and even the further touchdown, data probing of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Not all is lost – there’s always the private sector. Corporate space flight, though still in its embryo stage, is a maelstrom of exciting ideas and competing venture capitals. Competition is the key. It’s what put the first dog into space, the first man into space and the first man on the moon. So, who knows? For the time being I still find myself in awe of the very presence of Mars: it’s there! It’s real! The images below are not science fiction. What you see are true alien landscapes 36 to some 250 million miles away, but just beyond Man’s reach.