A lot will be written over the next few days about Phoenix, whether it succeeds beyond our dreams or whether it fails completely.
But either way, know full well we will go back to Mars, again and again. And I want to remind you of why.
-
About Bad Astronomy
Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He's written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic and fights the abuse of science, but his true love is praising the wonders of real science.
The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking, movie reviews, and all that) can be found here.
Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com
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May 25th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Sadly, the way NASA’s going, we might actually have to use a stool and an overturned bucket to get there.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:09 am
They turned Mars into the Moon, just to make their stupid video! The fiends!
JK. That’s a really cool transition, actually.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:29 am
The LEGO in this video remind me that Denmark have a couple of experiments on board.
Here’s a test of the Danish Mars explorer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f7KmmwdC-I
May 25th, 2008 at 8:32 am
I never thought I would say this about a NASA video, but I gotta admit, that was really sweet and adorable.
May 25th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Too cute. Literally.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Sadly, the way NASA’s going, we might actually have to use a stool and an overturned bucket to get there.
Sadly, the way US education is going, in 20 years people may think you actually can get there with a stool and an overturned bucket (and prayer, lots of prayer).
May 25th, 2008 at 9:14 am
I added a link to the history of the video.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Come on BA, do you really want humans on Mars? Think of all the Mars landing Hoax conspiracies you’ll have to deal with!
May 25th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I think it is beautiful, we are just children!
May 25th, 2008 at 9:47 am
That was really powerful, thanks BA.
*Manly tear*
May 25th, 2008 at 10:44 am
That was beautiful. I was a little misty-eyed until I saw this comment-
“Sadly, the way NASA’s going, we might actually have to use a stool and an overturned bucket to get there.”
Then I started laughing.
May 25th, 2008 at 10:53 am
I like the way that link explains how the video was changed to fit the current interpretation of the Vision for Space Exploration, that the way to Mars is via the Moon.
There’s some sort of lesson there, but I’m not sure what it is – maybe just keep a detached eye open when your heart-strings are being tugged?
May 25th, 2008 at 11:34 am
That is beautiful. “The Earth is the cradle of mankind, but mankind can’t stay in the cradle forever.” Konstantin Tsiolkovsk
May 25th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I’ve been working my way through The West Wing recently, and this really reminded me of a conversation in one episode… (copied and pasted straight from IMDb… I assure you that I don’t remember this verbatim)
Sam Seaborn: There are lots of hungry people in the world, Mall, and none of them are hungry because we went to the moon. None of them are colder and certainly none of them are dumber because we went to the moon.
Mallory O’Brian: And we went to the moon. Do we really have to go to Mars?
Sam Seaborn: Yes.
Mallory O’Brian: Why?
Sam Seaborn: Because it’s next. Because we came out of the cave, and we looked over the hill and we saw fire; and we crossed the ocean and we pioneered the west, and we took to the sky. The history of man is on a timeline of explorations and this is What’s next.
Incidentally, this is the first time I’ve commented on your blog…. I kept seeing your name pop up on Gia’s, and I’ve been following you on Twitter for a while (and, more recently, FriendFeed)
May 25th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
@Overstroming:
Yeah, and it would be interesting to see the variations on the Moon Hoax Conspiracy over time and across the population:
1. We didn’t go to the Moon or Mars.
2. We went to the Moon but didn’t go to Mars.
3. We still didn’t go to the Moon in 1969, but now we have the technology, so we did actually go to Mars.
4. Conspiracy Theorists living on the Moon denying the Mars landing.
And in the future you could be having a conversation like this:
Conspiracy Theorist: “It’s impossible for humans to get to Mars.”
BA: “So where do those daily mining shipments come from?”
CT: “They are staged by the government to maintain the illusion.”
BA: “But your own mother lives on the northern rim of the Hella Impact Basin!”
CT: “My mother is part of the conspiracy too.”
BA: “… you can see her house from here with your backyard refracting neutrino-scope.”
CT: “Faked.”
BA: “Look, I’ve booked us a couple of tickets on the first Virgin Galactic flight to Olympus Mons Airport tomorrow.”
CT: “Ummm … dental appointment.”
May 25th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
With apologies to Robert Browning:
“Ah, but a rugrat’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a Heaven for?”
May we all stay rugrats at heart forever…….
May 25th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
I loved these comments.
I wonder what the ecological movement on Mars will be. The Red movement? Will we dump co2 and iron into the environment to battle oxygen gasses?
haha, seriously though, just thinking of those 2 responses (we might have to use the bucket / we might think its possible with a bucket) just crack me up. Thanks for that guys.
May 26th, 2008 at 4:24 am
Lovely!! Reminded me of all the reasons I love astronomy.
Does anyone know what that beautiful piece of piano music playing in the background was?
It made me think of Yann Tiersen, but I can’t find any references to it anywhere.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
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