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Feature
February
2004
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Fiona
Griss
T
Free
Forum
Staff
t.
As
I
wrote
this
article,
scientists
at
NASA
were
waititj
one
called
the
controlled
crash
landing
of
the
rover
Oj
on
the
Meridiani
Planum,
a
plain
on
Mars.
Considering
lems
NASA
has
been
having
communicating
with
Spirit,
i
the
rovers
to
land
on
Mars,
this
comment
was
made
in
as
ly
optimistic
tone
of
voice.
In
fact,
from
the
fire
thatswep
the
command
module
of
Apollo
1,
to
the
heartbreaking
di
the
shuttles
Challenger
and
Columbia,
problems
sera
stalked
the
space
program.
So
why
bother?
Why
contim
human
life
and
throw
away
billions
of
dollars
on
this
I
futile
quest
to
explore
the
last
uncharted
frontier?
InT
li
announcement
recently
made
by
President
Bush,
it
seem
able
to
question
the
very
real
validity
of
these
concerns.
Consider
the
alternative
though.
f
Think
of
a
world
where
humans
no
longer
strive
to
what
lies
just
over
the
horizon;
a
world
where
the
urge
beyond
our
boundaries
has
been
replaced
by
an
apatheti
safety,
one
where
the
quest
for
knowledge
and
the
willi
risk
everything
is
buried
beneath
a
humdrum
existence
never
again
experiencing
the
shiver
that
runs
down
you
you
see
actual
images
of
a
world
other
than
Earth.
Thinki
of
a
world
we
would
live
in
if
Columbus,
Cartier,
and
minded
souls
had
remained
isolated
in
their
safe,
securee
The
490
million
km
journey
to
Mars
or
the
Red
PI
has
been
affectionately
nicknamed,
takes
six
months.
11
two
rovers,
small
all
terrain
vehicles
specially
designed
I
the
Martian
landscape
have
landed
on
Mars.
Individual
la
were
chosen
on
opposite
sides
of
the
planet.
Spirit
Ian
Gusev
Crater,
which
is
thought
to
have
once
been
a
Meridiani
Plain,
the
second
landing
site,
is
rich
in
hemati
ly
found
in
areas
that
have
been
wet
in
the
past.
Finding
evidence
of
water
is
the
primary
mission
ofl
The
idea
that
life
once
existed
on
this
barren
planet
is
sora
has
teased
the
scientific
community
for
years.
If
Mars
did
significant
amounts
of
this
liquid,
then
the
question
ofi
not
life
once
existed
on
Mars
becomes
a
realistic
one.
I
the
Mars
Program
has
named
their
exploration
strategy
I
Water.
,
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