SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
I honestly don ’ t know which side of the coin to go on . For me personally , I would like to see us up there . It seems like the United States , we , don ’ t learn from history , which means we can repeat things . You know Sputnik , Pearl Harbors , to give you some examples . I don ’ t know , that may be something that lights a fire under people .
Former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin , who was testifying before Congress , I ’ ll give you an example I ’ m talking about ; He was testifying and he asked members of Congress , and he asked this rhetorical question : How are you going to feel when the Chinese land on the moon , crate up the American flag , bring it back and put it on display in a museum in Beijing ? Now it ’ s not clear the Chinese would do that , but it ’ s driving home the point , how are you going to feel when another nation is up there doing these things and you ’ re not .
Grant it , we did it 50 + years ago , but we ’ re not doing it now , and that ’ s a message that may resonate with politicians and that could change things .
MISSION CONTROL :
What ’ s it going to be like for the country that gets to Mars first ?
DR . JIM RICE :
It ’ s to be determined what will happen with Mars and getting people up there . The country that gets there , they bring their way of life , their form of government , and their values . That ’ s just the way it goes . Exploration , has always worked that way . People in the US like these things : Juno , Jupiter , Gold Rim and the 4th of July , they like these thing but they don ’ t really . You can believe whatever you want in the poles . It depends how the question ’ s asked . They have these poles and you can believe what you want to , it depends on how the question is asked . People in general support NASA but when you ask if they want to increase the budget , they don ’ t want to . Once again it ’ s about leadership . Once you have the leadership . Once you have the leadership in Washington DC . The president and congress to sign it off , things will happen . Once you get that critical Mass and momentum going , things will happen .
MISSION CONTROL :
There are now countries launching missiles into the satellite zone around Earth , which means that in a war time scenario , satellite communication can now be disrupted by military force . It seems that as time goes on space will become the new battlefield . How important are the technologies used in the Mars Rover missions in aiding to defend countries and nations ?
DR . JIM RICE :
The same technology that ’ s used to precision land a spacecraft on mars can be used for military purposes to put a nuclear warhead down your smokestack . So these things go together . Now NASA is a civilian space agency , with the Chinese government , for example , there is no separation of civilian and military use , it ’ s all under one big bag .
You see , it ’ s a technological world we live in and it ’ s becoming more technological every second and if you can ’ t compete in that technological arena and don ’ t have an educated populous , then you ’ re not even in the game . You ’ re out of the game . So you have to compete in this , because our lives our becoming more and more dependent on technology and it ’ s not going to change . It ’ s only going to get more so .
MISSION CONTROL : What ’ s your involvement with the Mars Rover missions ? DR . JIM RICE :
My title is Science Team Member but also Geology Team Leader , this is on the Mars Exploration Rover Project called MER and those were the twin Rovers called Spirit and Opportunity . Opportunity is still going as we speak but Spirit quit working about 6 years ago . There ’ s another Rover mission on mars called curiosity but I ’ m not on that Science Team . I have friends on that team . Opportunity has been on Mars for over 12 ½ years and still going . It ’ s an amazing story , those Rovers were only supposed to last 90 days and both of them exceeded expectations by orders of magnitude .
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Fall 2016 1961 Magazine