Should we be heading towards Mars? Rand Simberg notes that the Phoenix’s triumphant landing on Mars this past Sunday occurred on the 47th anniversary of President Kennedy’s appearance before a joint session of Congress to propose an American mission to the moon “before this decade is out.” He comments on the possible significance of what Phoenix finds — or doesn’t find — to an eventual manned mission to the red planet:
This mission, like all Mars missions, is not just to answer pure science questions. It is also ostensibly a precursor to eventual human trips to Mars. The discovery that water is available in large quantities at the poles was encouraging to those who plan to “live off the land†there. But perhaps those who hope to one day be Martians themselves should also hope that Phoenix doesn’t find signs of life, at least current life. If it does, it’s not at all inconceivable that the planet would be put under quarantine from humanity so that we don’t contaminate it with our own life forms (this is a concern even for the robotic envoys, such as Phoenix, to the point that they are scrupulously sterilized prior to launch). Beyond that, for reasons having nothing to do with Mars, some say that we should hope that we are alone because to learn otherwise might be a bad omen for the human race.