Mars Photo of the Day - Sept 11 2011

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Today's Mars Image of Mars is another photo with a lot of meaning. This photo was taken on Sol 30 of Mars Explorarion Rover Opportunity's exploration of the Martian surface. It was found, colored, and enhanced at The Road to Endeavour blog.

When Mars Exploration Rover's Spirit and Opportunity were being created the MER team wanted to pay tribute to those 2,977 lost during the 9/11 attacks, but how could they do that when their greatest achievement would be millions of miles away on Mars? It was decided that both rovers would contain pieces of the wreckage from the Twin Towers and that they would bear them forth to a new world, Mars. The pieces were shaped into rectangular plate covers for cables and placed on the robotic arm of each rover.  These plate covers are marked with the American flag.

 These small plate covers also symbolize human polarity. There will always be evil acts committed by members of our species, but there will also be magnificent achievements made, like the Mars travel and subsequent exploration that is happening every day. 9/11 will always be remembered, on two planets, not just one.

This image links to the original hi-res, colored image from The Road to Endeavour.

See All Mars Photo of the Day Posts!

SpaceX is Winning the Race to Mars

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In the race to the Moon the primary competitors were the Americans and the Soviets and their state funded space agencies. At the beginning of the space race the governments of both countries invested heavily in their respective space agencies because it was deemed in the best interest of their countries. America successfully sent a manned mission to the Moon on July 20, 1969 and after a few more landings, during which time the Soviets were unable to launch their own manned mission, they essentially declared victory and to this day humanity has never sent a man beyond low-Earth orbit. Thus the first space race led to one of mankind's greatest accomplishments, but culminated with disappointment for millions of space enthusiasts.

A government is a broad organization that is responsible for everything from the economy to national defense to food regulation. It makes sense that governments cannot focus on space travel and exploration when there are more pressing responsibilities closer to home it must deal with. Governments have so many tasks and responsibilities it is easy to see why exploring space has been relegated to the back burner. Space enthusiasts have long despaired over the lack of nationalistic fervor that once drove the space industry, fearing that further exploration and research would all but end in the years to come. That fear has been misplaced.

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Opportunity Begins Exploration of Odyssey Crater

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Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has reached the rim of Endeavour Crater culminating a journey that has lasted three years. It went directly past Spirit Point, the rally point named after its twin rover Spirit and immediately to Odyssey Crater. Odyssey Crater is small (~20 meter) and at the lowest point along the rim of the much larger Endeavour Crater.

Odyssey Crater

It is now only a matter of days until Opportunity starts making discoveries about the rocks around Odyssey Crater, which are different than the rocks on Mars that have been examined thus far. As I explained in a  previous post:

The clays present in an around Endeavour Crater  are different than any found by a Mars Rover before. They imply a warm and wet environment, much like clays examined by Opportunity at other sites, but what makes them different is their low-acidity level. It is thought that warmth, moisture, and low-acidity levels provide a suitable environment for the development of life. So while Mars Rover Opportunity will examine the clay and determine its properties, it will also be looking for signs of tiny fossils, which would provide evidence of past life on Mars. While no one expects to find evidence of past life in the clays around Endeavour Crater, it would be foolish of us not to look for it.

Something Remarkable Found Already?

Despite the fact that Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity just arrived at Odyssey Crater last night, it has already discovered an anomaly that might end up being an amazing discovery.

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The Significance of Mars Travel and Exploration

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We live in a world that continually shows us the worst of humanity; whether it be tyrants killing civilians, riots in London, or childish bickering among legislators in Washington. Every day we are told that something bad, or even horrible has happened, but rarely are we reminded of humanity's strength and magnificence. Rarely are we reminded that we have and continue to accomplish amazing feats every single day. There are so many great, fantastic, and unbelievably selfless things that humanity has done and achieved. Some of these remarkable achievements can be seen in our exploration of Mars.

Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity

Humanity designed a pair of rovers (Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit  and Opportunity) and sent them to Mars. We  have used them to traverse miles of the alien terrain for years. It is remarkable enough that we have set objects on another planet, but the fact that we are using them to send footage of that planet back to Earth is astounding. We can now examine rocks on another planet. That would have been unimaginable less than a century ago. Is this not a remarkable feat?




Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

We have also sent the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to Mars where it has taken thousands of high definition photos of the planet. These photos, along with those from other orbiters, have been put together to allow the average person to explore Mars from the comfort of their living room through revolutionary software like Google Mars. Is this not an amazing accomplishment? Just 10 years ago NASA didn't have the images of Mars that every person has access to on their personal computer today. This in and of itself is an unbelievable accomplishment.

The fact that we now have evidence that salt water is currently flowing on Mars is testament to the remarkable discoveries and accomplishments that humanity is capable of making.

There have been many more accomplishments made by exploring Mars, all of which show the enduring and determined nature of the human spirit. These accomplishments show that humanity can accomplish anything we set our minds to, but more importantly they show that, as a species, we are better than some of our less exemplary individuals.

It is unfortunate that humanity's achievements are not heralded as much as our failings are broadcast, but this disproportionate representation does not mean that our accomplishments are less than our shortcomings. If ever you start despairing about the current state of humanity, take a look at Google Mars or the images from Spirit and Opportunity and remember that the human race is performing countless great feats every single day.

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. - Mohandas Gandhi