January 13, 2004


The Voice of America has a round up of reactions from science-fiction authors including Ben Bova and Kim Stanley Robinson on the Mars rover’s landing.
9:37:17 PM    

Scientists are planning the first moves of the Spirit Mars Rover. The initial target once it starts to move Wednesday night or Thursday morning is a 200-meter-wide impact crater just 260 meters northeast of the landing site. After investigating this site Spirit will make a run for the hills aiming for a set of hills 3 kilometers to the east. But Spirit may not reach the hills; it was only designed to travel 600 meters in total.

People who say that a manned mission to Mars should consider how much more a manned mission can do then even the best robotic probes. A single team could accomplish more in a few hours than what Spirit can possibly do before it expires could.


9:21:06 PM