A reader responds to Robert Roy Britt's article "The End Is Nigh -- Again: Scientists Say 'No Way' to Solar Tidal Doom."

To the Editor:

In SPACE.com's article "The End Is Nigh -- Again: Scientists Say 'No Way' to Solar Tidal Doom," the author says that if you "search the web" you'll find lots of nonsense about the end of the world at the time of the alignment on May 5, 2000. It's true that there's a lot of nonsense on this topic in cyberspace, as there is on any topic, but some of us have also compiled web sites over the past few years debunking this particular tall tale. My own contribution can be found here: http://www.clockwk.com/tides.

	More Stories
	The End is Nigh -- Again: Scientists Say 'No Way' to Solar Tidal Doom
	Mars Exploration Needs a Human Direction
	Alien Intelligence? Think Again
	Letters: Aliens Redux, and More
	Related Links
	SPACE.com's Opinions section

Frank E. Reed, Chicago, Illinois

Whither Mars exploration? In a recent opinion piece, the Planetary Society's Louis Friedman argued that the robotic Mars program needs human-oriented goals and the funds to achieve them. Readers respond:

To the Editor:

I recently kidded The Planetary Society's (TPS) flamboyant Lou Friedman about his recent, unfamiliar persona -- the voice of reason and moderation! As NASA grows ever more cautious and the Humans-to-Mars movement ever more militant, Lou and his TPS hold the middle ground between humanity's quest for adventure and this country's retreat from the money-is-no-object space adventurism of the 60's.

Within NASA, an unfortunate competition exists between the planetary science and the human exploration communities, fueled by a perceived competition for resources. Human exploration will cost an enormous amount of money, funds that might otherwise support near-term robotic science. But the first crew on Mars will be scientists first, explorers second. Those first visitors will spend 500 days on the surface, a 100 times as long as we spent on the moon. Theirs will be a leisurely scientific investigation by any standard.

Any field geologist or archaeologist appreciates the combination of training, instinct and sensibility that allows a human being to survey miles of rocky terrain and to home in on the spot that harbors the answer to a scientific mystery. The most sophisticated tele-operated rovers are feeble substitutes for a human on two feet. Consider the robotic arm on the Mars Polar Lander, an appendage that cost millions to design and build, more millions to train and operate, all for the purpose of digging a foot-deep hole in the sand. A small step for a man, a giant leap for a robot!

As Lou Friedman suggests, it is time to start planning for that scientific expedition to Mars, selecting the landing sites and defining the tools we must take with us. How far will we want to rove on the surface, how deep must we drill and what souvenirs should we take back with us? The price is high, but the scientific prize is precious.

Michael Hecht, Manager
Mars Environmental Compatibility Assessment
(dust and soil investigation on the Mars 2001 Lander)
 
 

To the Editor:

Louis Friedman's observations about restoring the "Human Direction" to Mars exploration reflect my own personal feeling about NASA in general. Robert Jastrow the founder of NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies made a similar observation a few months after Apollo 11 landed humans on the moon in July 1969. Jastrow pointed out that human space exploration was more efficient and "cheaper" than robotic exploration. This highly respected scientist recalled several incidents where "unmanned missions failed due to the lack of human presence, and manned missions were successful" only because humans were on board the spacecraft to observe and react appropriately at critical moments. The most recent example in Jastrow's day was Apollo 11. If not for Neil Armstrong's keen observations and piloting skills, Apollo 11 would have crashed and never been heard from again. Despite the fact that today's spacecraft computers are much faster and possess greater capacity than the Apollo-era systems, they still are no match for a human pilot or scientist.

I still don't think humans will land on Mars within the next 50 years, however, no matter how much "spin" NASA can put on its campaign for a Mars program. The moon, not Mars is the most logical testbed for prototyping and developing the technology of human interplanetary settlement. The moon's proximity to earth makes it a much cheaper, safer and accessible place for our first real steps into the "new ocean of space". We have some unfinished business on the moon. Tranquility Base, where humans made a "giant leap" needs to become Tranquility City before we make that "quantum leap" to Mars.

Jim McDade
Director of Technology
School of Business
University of Alabama - Birmingham
 
 

To the Editor:

In response to Louis Friedman's opinion article, I would like to say that I agree with him that the focus of robotic exploration on Mars must be to blaze a path for humans to use when they arrive on Mars in the future. There is ample precedent for this approach, since NASA landed the Surveyor landers on the moon as a precursor to the soon-to-arrive Apollo astronauts. However, Dr. Friedman now says that the sample-return mission should not be the focus of Mars robotic exploration, a position that I did not think I would ever read him to advocate, but that the "human questions" should take precedence.

I could not agree more. Sample return, although perhaps scientifically valuable, is a total "yawner" as far as the public is concerned. Surveyor did not return samples from the moon; we waited for astronauts to do that for us. Robotic exploration should be trailblazing the way to Mars, as it did with the moon. With the money which could be saved from canceling a sample-return mission, we could replace it with far more robust and capable robotic landers and rovers than currently planned, scouting out locations on Mars which have beckoned human explorers for a generation.

The first sample-return mission from Mars should be the mission where humans set foot upon, explore and retrieve the samples scientists so anxiously await. That is the mission which will engage and excite the public. A more robust robotic program, with the goal of paving the way for astronauts, will at last give NASA a program this decade worthy of its legacy.

Robert Becerra, Esq.

SPACE.com welcomes Letters to the Editor. Letters intended for publication should be under 250 words, and may be edited for style and clarity.