 |
|
 |
|
Charles Jaco has written opinion and commentary pieces for dozens of magazines and newspapers. Each week, read and comment on a fresh on-line version. The discussion page enables you to share your view points world wide. If you would like to make a comment go to the " Join the discussion" link below. If you would like to view past editorials visit the Editorial Archive. Editorial: 11/26/99
At Y2K minus 28--December 3rd in Earth lingo--639 pounds of titanium, aluminum,
silicon, and dreams will slowly descend toward the South Pole of Mars. If Columbus had
sent out unmanned ships before he collided with the New World, the principle would have
been the same.
The Mars Polar Lander is supposed to make a soft landing on the Red Planet, and then
send back information on everything from rock formations to ice trapped beneath the
surface. Is there life on Mars? The answer is Clintonesque--it depends on what you
mean by "life". Analysis of two pieces of Mars has been inconclusive. Meteorite
ALH84001 was found in Antarctica in 1996. Some scientists say it contains remnants of
bacteria. Others say the chemical signature in the rock that started out as part of
the Martian surface comes from the physical stresses of its' entry into our atmosphere.
Another meteorite found in Egypt in 1911 contains fragments that might--might--be
mineralized bacteria.
But does anyone here care? The Left is out with its' usual whine about the money
being better spent to feed the hungry and clothe the downtrodden. The Right, with its'
usual selfish myopia, doesn't care about much of anything beyond the U.S. on this planet,
let alone another one. And the vast mass of us in the middle are too distracted by
watching Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? and the NASDAQ to care much.
Which is a shame. NASA plans a flyover of Mars with a small robot airplane in
2003. By 2005, they hope to land on the Martian surface, robotically scrape up rocks
and dirt, and return them to earth. Sometime after 2010, a manned mission to Mars might
be in the works. See those high schoolers zipping past your house with the hip-hop
turned up to ear-crunching levels? One of them may be the first human to set foot
on Mars.
And again, in this bottom-line-what's-in-it-for-me age, the question is asked:
why should I care? The answer lies buried in China, with the remnants of their
15th century civilization. A few decades before Columbus ran into San Salvador, the
Chinese had sent ships as far as the east coast of Africa. The way was paved for the
Chinese, not the Europeans mired in the Dark Ages, to discover America. It could have
been China, not Spain and England and Portugal and Holland, that explored and colonized
the New World. By all rights, I should be writing this in Mandarin or Cantonese, and
you should be a Taoist or Bhuddist.
But the history of our planet changed when the isolationists got the ear of
China's emperor. Laws were passed that no ships could be built unless they were
small and could trade along China's coast, but go no further. The giant vessels the
Chinese used to explore the outer oceans were ordered burned. Any culture other than
China's was decreed inferior. Foreigners were kept out, and contact with the outside
world was cut off. And China sank into obscurity and irrelevance, a prime target for
the colonists hundreds of years later who picked its' bones.
That is precisely why you should care. The ocean-straddling caravels and barques
of the 21st century are fragile bits of robotic wiring sent hurtling toward the
unknown. And we fragile humans are next. If we take the 15th century Chinese view,
then our great-great-great-great grandchildren will look at the sky and wonder how
we could have been so short-sighted and selfish.
A joke around NASA asks, "Why did the dinosaurs become extinct? Because they didn't
have a space program." One day--a hundred years from now, ten thousand years from now--
the probability is that another asteroid like the one that propelled the Stegasaurus
onto the dustbin of history will come calling. And the only method of survival may be
to spread as much of humankind into space as we can.
But even if we dodge that celestial bullet, our imperative is to reach outward,
not turn inward. And that, in the end, is why we should care.
|
Visit the Editorial Archive.
 |
|
[ News Views ] [ Coming Up ] [ Public Speaking ] [ News Boom ] |