Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

Seeing Red Column for the weeks of January 11-24, 2004

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Exploring the unknown is not one of my strong points. During prehistoric times I would have never ventured out of my cave to travel over the next hill unless being chased by a pterodactyl or something. To traipse afar just to see what there is to see is a foreign concept to me. Remember, “The Bear Went Over the Mountain” to see what he could see and all that he could see was the other side of the mountain. Or what about those pioneers who moved west on a wagon train just for adventure? No thank you! That’s kind of how I feel about the U.S. Spirit, one of two rovers designated to explore Mars but I am definitely in the minority. In fact interest is so high, NASA web sites have received 1.7 billion hits requesting information just since the Spirit landed safely last Saturday. That’s around 260 million hits a day.

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. (Earth is the third, in case you’re wondering.) Because of it’s striking red appearance (its soil, rocks, and sky have a reddish, pinkish hue) it is commonly referred to as the Red Planet and is a favorite for stargazers. When Mars is opposite the sun it is twice as bright as Sirius, the brightest star. Ancient Egyptians named it “The Red One” and the Romans called it Mars, in honor of their God of War. Earthlings seem to hold a strange fascination for Mars. It’s always been considered the most likely planet to have extraterrestrial life. In fact in 1938 when Orson Welles broadcast a radio drama based on the War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells about a Martian invasion, many people believed it was true.

Mars has a quarter of the surface area of Earth. It has a thin atmosphere composed primarily of carbon dioxide and small amounts of other gases with an extreme temperature range, the average being -63° C (-81° F). It also appeared to experience season changes somewhat similar to those of Earth but it was not because of vegetation but dust storms. Mars has two small, oddly shaped moons. This Mars mission is looking for clues of two things: water and life. They think they may have found evidence of pre-existing water through the presence of a mineral called carbonate. They will keep us posted.

In hopes of eventually sending a manned mission to Mars, President Bush is due to announce plans to establish a human settlement on the moon. Mars is the eventual target. Our moon is just a steppingstone in that direction. It might take up to 10 years or more to complete the project. These things take time. The last humans on the moon were the crew of Apollo 17 in 1972. Kennedy would be so proud. So would Captain Kirk. “Space—the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

I admire all the fine men and women who will volunteer for these missions. Armed with spirit and fortitude, they might be seeing red, the Red Planet that is, maybe up close and personal. As for me, I prefer the green, green grass of home. After all, someone has to cheer their success and ultimate return. Don’t beam me up, Scottie! I’ll be one of the 260 million surfing the net daily for the latest pictures.

Be sure to visit this page every week to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bdahlgren@wcgsouthbay.org.