Real science in the sky
From writer H.G. Wells to filmmaker Ridley Scott, the possibility of life on Mars has long sparked the public’s imagination for generations. And if there ever was a time when a world could use a demonstration of the power of science, or at least a hopeful distraction, it is in the Year of Oh-MyLord 2020.
Certainly, Thursday’s launch was not as dramatic as aliens landing in New Jersey bent on destroying mankind or astronaut Mark Watney getting stuck on the red planet in the movie “The Martian,” or even the antennae rising from the back of Uncle Martin’s head in “My Favorite Martian.” But at least the Perseverance rover now headed to Mars is real and not fictional. Its mission is to closely examine the rocks and soil beginning with the Jezero Crater while the companion drone helicopter Ingenuity hovers 15 feet above the surface to check out the challenges of Martian flight.
It’s entirely possible Perseverance will uncover signs of ancient microbial life on Mars as it roams the planet. It’s not the first such U.S.-led effort (four others, Curiosity, Opportunity, Spirit, and the original Mars rover, Sojourner, came before it) but it’s the most capable with the ability to drill and store core samples and ramble across the landscape for the equivalent of two Earth years.
It’s a shame that now comes the boring part. Perseverance won’t land until February. In movies, this is usually the moment where there’s a montage of rocket hurtling clips interspersed with scenes of NASA personnel hunched over computers before a landing takes place about 30 seconds later. Still, this gives everyone time to marvel at how human ingenuity and knowledge has reached the point where a remotely controlled robot stuffed with all kinds of technology from lasers to drills, cameras and microphones, sitting on top of a powerful Atlas V rocket can be launched into space with the press of a button on a mission that will take years to complete.
Isn’t that amazing? This isn’t science fiction.
Now, cut to the final reel and imagine if Perseverance discovers evidence of some one-celled organism that lived on Mars 3.7 billion years ago when the planet was more habitable with a watery surface. Will third planet inhabitants see such a breakthrough as the answer to the eternal question, is there life beyond Earth, or as a fraud perpetrated by the liberal eggheads with their fake news co-conspirators?
Here’s a good pretest: Is the person reacting to such an event wearing a mask to prevent the virus from spreading or still insisting that hydroxychloroquine is a cure so why bother? Sometimes reality truly is stranger than fiction. Onward.