Gordon Forgey

Something special happened this week, and it had nothing to do with the Olympics. Nor was it in London. Actually, it was 350 million miles away.

It was the landing of the Curiosity Mars Rover.

The Curiosity rover itself is an amazing piece of equipment, able to perform a variety of scientific experiments. Its delivery on Mars was even more amazing.

First, the rocket launch from Earth to Mars was precise, and the module entered the Martian atmosphere as planned. There it plummeted to the surface at speeds up to 13,000 miles an hour. A heat shield protected the module, and a supersonic parachute deployed and gradually slowed it. At a certain altitude and speed, the heat shield was jettisoned.

Finally, to get the rover safely on the planet, rockets in the module fired to further slow its descent. Within feet of the planet, it stopped, rockets blasting to keep it airborne. Hovering there, it gently lowered the rover by cables to the Martian surface. The cables separated, and the rocket module shot away.

It was an amazing feat.

America was once the undisputed leader in space exploration. From putting men on the moon to deep space probes and incredible reusable space shuttles, few could challenge the country.

Then, it all seemed to end. The vision faded. The budgets shrank. America appeared to be willing to let go of its space exploration heritage. Many projects were turned over to private enterprise. The space shuttles were retired. NASA even rented space on Russian rockets.

The Curiosity program shows that American skills and desire are still intact. The project called for expertise, determination and finesse. So far, it has gone off without a hitch.

America is facing enormous problems. Most of those have been allowed to linger and fester because we as a nation cannot find the will to solve them.

The Curiosity mission should inspire us. We still can do the marvelous. We still can meet the challenge.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher