A Curious Look at the Red Planet and American Ingenuity We Can Applaud

The successful deployment of Curiousity, Sunday night is just another example of our country's greater accomplishments.  It seems that man walking on the moon has been supplanted by Michael Jackson's "Moon Walk," and by gaming systems.  Perhaps it is time to pause and reflect on the greatness of America through the actions of NASA. Space travel is more than adventure, it is science and reality forging a path to the future.

I propose that the greatest event of mankind has been the United States placing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. This accomplishment was done in an era when computers filled up rooms and technology, as compared to today, was in its infancy. 

We fulfilled the promise of President Kennedy and won the space race as it was called back in 1969 when US-Soviet tensions were high. We then exceeded that envelope with our probes that not only landed, but traversed the Martian terrain and sent back clear pictures of the "Red Planet,"   with total recall.  Just think, you could view and print pictures of the surface of Mars,  another planet, in color. 

Now we did not find any martians, but we did cement the fact that the United States can successfully explore the final frontier. Now, while others in the world were focused on the Olympiad, many of us were watching the touchdown that scored one for the US and resulted in Curious landing on the surface of Mars. 

This was just a science fiction movie to us during the 60's and 70's and now you can download pictures of Mars on your i-Pad in clear tones. What an amazing trip this was since the probe was sent aloft in November 2011. Just think what America can accomplish when we work as a team and eschew gridlock as part of that great adventure into space. 

Now, I know, the naysayers will opine about the cost of such a mission, but really, space exploration is as American as Apple Pie and we have received many modern discoveries as a result of the space program such as Velcro and Interferon. 

It is certainly pleasing to see the gold medals, but wasn't the Blade Runner the epitome of the Olympic ideal? Technology can certainly assist the desire of those who want to surmount obstacles as the I did these last few days and we can thank the contributions of the space program for an assist here with the blade materials and also congratulate our current Mission to Mars.