Mariner 4 Alternate Universe, What if...? |
Mariner 4 Alternate Universe, What if...? |
Sep 29 2006, 11:01 PM
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
What if Mariner 4's flyby had occurred right across Tharsis & Coprates Chasma, showing volcanoes & canyons instead of heavily cratered terrain? (I understand that trajectory determinants prevented this from happening, of course, but still...). Do you suppose that Mars exploration would have been thrown into hyperdrive during the heady '60s, perhaps enough to sustain manned efforts beyond Apollo?
Doug, my apologies if this is OT for this section...there seem to be some interesting implications here for the imaginative, though. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Sep 30 2006, 10:22 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 710 Joined: 28-September 04 Member No.: 99 |
What if the Mariner pictures had shown a Lowellian Mars instead? Now that would have inspired the Space Program!
This reminds me of a SciFi favorite of mine: the short story 'The Gods of Mars' (by Gardner R. Dozois, Jack M. Dann & Michael Swanwick) in which a bunch of astronauts arrive at Mars while a global dust storm is raging. When the dust finally settles they can't believe what they are seeing... Highly recommended. |
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Oct 2 2006, 02:59 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
What if the Mariner pictures had shown a Lowellian Mars instead? Actually, what if Mariner 4 had only returned one image and it was the "Face"? That extremely unlikely event would have made it a noncrazy hypothesis that it was an artifact. Then there'd be a long slow hiss of disappointment as more missions flew by. |
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Oct 2 2006, 03:30 PM
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#4
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Member Group: Members Posts: 159 Joined: 4-March 06 Member No.: 694 |
I believe that first impression of a body (ie planet, moon, etc) is important. If the first impression really wows the people, politicans and the scientific community, they will demand another mission. If not, future missions are very hard to justify, let alone get funded and launch.
Where first impressions were good: Jupiter Saturn Titan Moon Neptune Europa Io Miranda Ariel Triton Where first impressions were not good: Uranus Mercury Venus Mars [1] Pluto Rhea Oberon Enceladus [1] Mars is big news and popular largely because of the 1950's (and earlier) Sci-fi connotation You see, us humans like seeing eye candy, even when it comes to outer space! -------------------- I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed.
- Opening line from episode 13 of "Cosmos" |
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