Mars Science Laboratory

"I am looking at the future with concern, but with good hope." -Albert Schweitzer As you all know, the most ambitious interplanetary mission ever attempted -- Mars Science Laboratory -- successfully landed its Curiosity rover on Mars earlier this week. Last night, I had the opportunity to go on my local news and speak a bit about it, and as always, it was an absolute pleasure. (Video credit: KGW / Ben Lacy / Carey Higgins / Steph Stricklen.) Of course we got to talk about the rover itself and its science potential, and exactly how much more sophisticated it is than any of its martian…
“We are much closer today to being able to send humans to Mars than we were to being able to send men to the moon in 1961, and we were there eight years later. Given the will, we could have humans on Mars within a decade.” -Robert Zubrin This is what we can accomplish when we invest in something big. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Mars Science Laboratory. I'm not talking about the Olympics, of course. I'm talking about investing in science, in exploration, in robotics, in engineering, in technology, and in humanity, and what can we accomplish? Image credit: Mars Curiosity / NASA / JPL…