[X] My Assistant

[djellison]

I know this picture doesnt look like much. It's grainy, it's bleached out quite a bit

But you owe it to yourselves to look at that picture, and think.

There is a rover climbing a hill on mars.

Isnt that amazing?

If you think hard enough - you can actually imagine being there. Walking with a rover, that we sent half a billion km's to a whole other world.

Sometimes, an image will just catch me off guard and I'll go "wow - LOOK at what we can do!"

Doug

[Bill Harris]

And these planetary missions are about as pure as science can get. Whereas the Lunar Landings started largely a nationalistic p-ing contest between the Americans and Soviets, the Rovers (et al) are science for the sake of science.

[Guest_Richard Trigaux_*]

Whereas the Lunar Landings started largely a nationalistic p-ing contest between the Americans and Soviets, the Rovers (et al) are science for the sake of science.

With my opinion, such nationalistic contests will appear really childlish with time. Anyway, for aesthetical and philosophical reasons, and at least for financial reasons, large space projects can be only on an international cooperation basis. Look at the american Cassini bearing the european Huygens, or the american MER using european Mars express as a radio relay, Russia assuming the transportations toward the ISS... And it is only a beginning, Russia will come back, and soon we shall have the participation of India, China, Japan, and perhaps even Brazil...

Marcel, yes, I wonder also why more people -- and especially young people -- are not excited about what is happening in science these days, and especially space scientist. Astrobiologists have already accepted the idea that if simple life is discovered on Mars the public will just give a big yawn.

I think everybody, especially youngsters, are really excited about finding life on Mars, or what else unexpected. But if you hear at the medias speaking in their name, you will not know it. For instance, in France ALL the medias said that the Frenchs refused the european constitution project because of xenophobia, but this is simply a terrible lie. There are many other such lies, and the problem is that even the concerned people end to think how the medias tell them to think. So, today, the hype is being cynicist and disenchanted, and I am afraid that if life on Mars is announced the same day than a law authorizing homosexual marriage, the medias will not speak of life on Mars. But History will retain life on Mars.