Times/Post 

An interesting juxtaposition of editorials in Washington, D.C. recently.
First up, in The Washington Post, you have Anne Applebaum:
"The first color pictures from the NASA space probe expedition to Mars have now been published. They look like -- well, they look like pictures of a lifeless, distant planet. They show blank, empty landscapes."
"Mars, as a certain pop star once put it, isn't the kind of place where you'd want to raise your kids. Nor is it the kind of place anybody is ever going to visit, as some of the NASA scientists know perfectly well."
"Worse, there is always the risk that yet another politician will seize on the idea of "sending a man to Mars," or "building a permanent manned station on the moon" as a way of sounding far-sighted or futuristic or even patriotic."
Then, you have the editorial staff of The Washington Times:
"Its landing signals the beginning of an exciting three-month period of discovery and may mark the opening of a period of great achievement in space. "
"The stream of information and amazing images Spirit sends back should not overshadow the feat of engineering that put it there."
"Those successes demonstrate that despite the manned space program's current doldrums, there are plenty of individuals involved with NASA who are eager and able to rise to the challenges of the final frontier... The names of both craft epitomize the current state of NASA's manned program. The spirit exists to send men to the moon or to Mars. The opportunity awaits. All that is needed is the vision and the plan. "

:: :: 09:37 :: David :: [permalink] ::