Mars Rover Curiosity (who really needs a better name, btw. The floor is open for suggestions) has made a pretty major discovery. Not by a chemical analysis of the soil. Not through any particularly fancy computer work. Just by a simple thing MRC (or Mr C as I think I’ll refer to him from now on) does on a pretty much constant basis. Checking the temperature.
The Lewis and Clark of the Great Uninhabited Territory
That’s right folks, the daytime temperature on Mars, on a sunny late winter day which is what it is where it is now, is a balmy 6 degrees centigrade. It may not be a tropical resort, but it’s actually liveable. And it’s warmer than we ever knew it was.
So, take that! you naysayers of science, you petty minded people who cannot grasp the difference between a million and a billion, just one letter different, sort of like Iran, Iraq, you earth bound potted lobsters. Here’s this handy little robot, who was actually built quite economically, up there intrepidly exploring an alien world, and he discovers that it’s actually quite a bit warmer than we thought, actually survivable, even if most people wouldn’t want to live there. Well done, Mr C!
It’s certainly great news for those Dutch reality show contestants, who are vying for the opportunity to spend the rest of their lives on a barren rock, millions of miles from home. There are still a couple of little problems like oxygen and water, but this is a giant leap forward.
The 1st colony will be in a decade or so. 50 years from now, earth ships stocked with seeds, tools and people will be heading for Mars every couple of weeks or so. An ice comet will have been captured and pulled into orbit, emitting a rain of big, globular drops floating lazily to the surface. 100 years from now, the place might be livable, a new beacon of hope for the tired, poor and huddled masses.
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