by Chris Taylor on Mashable
Right now, the Curiosity Rover is sailing through space en route to the Red Planet. The one-ton, car-sized beast should hopefully land intact on the surface of Mars in early August, and we can’t wait to see what it finds. Neither can NASA.
But after the robot rover has combed, poked at and rolled over the rocky surface: what then? What’s the next step in finding life on Mars, and putting human life on the Martian surface in the next few decades — especially given the space agency’s unfortunate budget constraints?
Well, NASA announced its plans to draw up a Red Planet road map Friday — and you’re invited to contribute.
“Receiving input from our community is vital to energize the planning process,” Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, told reporters on a conference call.
“We’ll integrate inputs to ensure the next steps for the Mars Exploration Program will support science, as well as longer-term human exploration and technology goals.”
As McCuistion spoke, five-time astronaut and NASA associate administrator John Grunsfeld tweeted this:
The input process isn’t yet as public-friendly as it could be. That link takes you to the homepage of the“Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration” conference, to take place at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston in July. You can sign up to attend and to submit a paper.
But McCuistion promises there will be more web tools for public input, and that the conference will be broadcast live online. The resulting Martian road map will be released in August — around the same time Curiosity lands.
Grunsfeld and the rest of the NASA team seem to be taking a lemons-to-lemonade approach to the Obama administration’s budget cuts. “We’re forced into different strategies,” he said, “but that can help you find different solutions.”
In any case, finding some kind of life on Mars may boost NASA’s bottom line. “Based on observations in the last six months, it’s reasonable to think there may be life on Mars today,” Grunsfeld added.
“If there’s life already there, we have to understand the effect on humans. It’s not just the question of are we alone, it’s a question of safety … we want to enable a path to putting more life on Mars, ie. us.”How do you think we should approach the Red Planet? Tell us — and NASA — in the comments.
Source: http://mashable.com/2012/04/13/nasa-mars-mission/
