Does Mars need humans?

"It's not NASA's job to send a man to Mars. It's NASA's job to make it possible for the National Geographic Society to send people to Mars."- Simberg

All the public cares about Mars is when someone will step foot on the planet, as if living vicariously through an astronaut is better then watching it happen through Hollywood's lenses. As Americans who are putting tax dollars towards Mars we need to ask ourselves why the red planet is so appealing.

Why goto Mars?

Because it would be totally sweet. Not only could we learn about our sister planet, we could learn about ourselves. We could also learn more about space propulsion because there needs to be a more time efficient way of getting there.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-dustup2oct02,0,4638210.story?coll=la-opinion-center

What to Eat on the Red Planet

An article posted on Earth & Sky discussed what people could eat on Mars. According to NASA, astronauts will be able to grow their own crops and cook those vegetables on missions down the line. Earth & Sky spoke with Kim Binstead, the leader of the 2007 Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station Mission. The FMARS mission simulated what it would be like to live on Mars for 100 days. Dr. Binstead said that they had food products with a very long shelf life and a small indoor garden for fresh vegetables. She even has a special recipe for textured vegetable protein meatballs. Binstead claims that the best part about preparing the meals was the social aspect, because even though they were "on Mars", they were able to still enjoy something they were used to back home.

Links:
NASA describing space food
History of food in space

Man on Mars in 2037

In 30 years we should have a man on mars. Or at least this is what the administrator of the US space agency Michael Griffin said. He said that by 2057, "we should be celebrating 20 years of man on Mars" in a statement made on September 24th. Griffin also discussed the international space stations future uses to provide a starting point for humans to travel to the moon and then eventually to mars. The international space station is supposed to be complete by 2010 where it will be used as a staging point for missions to the moon and mars in the future. In 2004 president bush made a statement that we will return to the moon by 2020 and use it as a "stepping stone for missions to mars and beyond."

Movie List Link

Sorry, here's the link to the movie list. I can't get it to link but just copy and paste it into your address bar and your golden!

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mystique/filmradio.html

Movie List

For all of you out there that are dying to watch every movie on Mars that you can get your hands on, I've got some information for you. I have found a list of popular movies that are about Mars. Now you can go to the video store and find any video that you need to satisfy your cravings.

MARS CRAZY

Did you hear that people once thought mars had canals on it? Yeah, wild. Here's a brief timeline for you to laugh at, and a wikipedia link for you to find more extensive sources on the topic.

1877: Canal controversy starts with Giovanni Schiaparelli and his reported sightings of canals through an 8 inch telescope

1886/1888: Henri Perrotin and Louis Thollen confirm these signings1894: Lowell publishes his theory of an intelligence species on mars that build the canals.


Meanwhile, William Harkness uses a 26 inch telescope and reports no canals of any sort. That same year, Schiaparelli reports that the canals actually DOUBLED in number.

Pickering, a brother to the then director of the Harvard College Observatory, and a colleague suggests that said canals were actually strips of vegetation. Theories float around that Mars has a atmosphere similar to Earth. Spectroscopy readings even match this theory. It’s not till later that a fellow by the last name of Antoniadio starts his own observations and finds out that the spectroscopy readings of Mars were illusory; it was actually the Earth’s light reflecting on Mars (the same problem comes up when you do a spectroscopy reading of Earth’s moon). In his research, Antoniadio sees that these major players in the canal theory are constantly changing their stories depending on who they talk to. He does his own viewings of Mars with a 33 inch telescope and of course finds no canals. He publishes all this work, and thus ends the canal hypothesis. A very weird incident in 1924 arises when a then learned and prestigious astronomer looks again at mars and says he too sees the canals. But, publically the hype is over with.

Wikipedia article on Martian Canals.

The Planets Do Make Music!

Ever hear that wacky story that the planets, as they zip through the solar system, make some beautiful eternal music? Well, they probably don't. But, if they do, I wonder what they would think of England's Gustav Holst's The Planets.

I'd suggest listening, it's fracking amazing. (Come back to me, Battlestar Galactica)