Mercury, Venus and Mars.

  I’ve been a fan of science for a long time.  I think it dates back to the second trimester, but it could have been the first?  In terms of space, the NASA missions over the last few years have been some of the best.  What makes the science all the more interesting is that today via the Internet, NASA is able to share the information as soon as they receive it.  It used to take weeks or months before the public received anything other than a peak at the images and data being collected.  That is no longer the case.

   Thanks to the NASA on the Internet I have been able to view our solar system in close-up detail I could have never dreamed of as a child.   The best  I could hope for as a kid, was taking the ten power binoculars out to the back yard and almost being able to make our the rings of Saturn.  But, now I have seen the surface of Mercury.  I have peered through the Sulfuric laden clouds of Venus and seen the barren landscape lit by the diffuse light of the Sun filtering it’s way down through miles of clouds in which a single breath would mean death here on Earth.  I have seen the rings of Saturn and it’s most of it’s moons in colors that where unimaginable based on the white images of years past.

    But, likely the high-lite has been the the missions to Mars.  If you have not checked out the NASA web site and checked out the Mars Rover’s Missions, you need to.  The Spirit and Opportunity rovers have provided not only years of science, they have provided me years of entertainment and learning.  Who would have believed you could land something on a planet tucked inside a big bouncing balloon.  OK, they were really air-bags, but the package did bounce before coming to rest and releasing the rovers from within. 

    Each mission we learn more about one of our neighboring planets, we end up learning more about what makes this planet Earth tick as well.