McCain is a Martian! - June 06, 2008
US presidential candidate John McCain says he wants to see humanity on Mars. He told a group of Florida newspapers that Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles have shaped his thinking on this issue.
“As a very young boy, I was intrigued by and read Ray Bradbury, and my favourite ... is The Martian Chronicles,” said McCain (RawStory). "I am intrigued by a man on Mars and I think it would excite the imagination of the American people."
He also said he would be a champion for NASA, and would consider running the Shuttle past the current 2010 cut off date (AP). Money, it seems is no object, so long as NASA has some firm priorities.
“Yes, I’d be willing to spend more taxpayers dollars,” he said (Washington Post’s The Trail blog).
Jeff Foust's Space Politics blog says McCain’s comments sound “a little bit like what Barack Obama has been saying”.
Image: NASA Glenn Research Center (NASA-GRC)
Comments
If the only reason McCain has for going to Mars is to excite the imagination of the American people, then he is in for a disappointing ride. At this point an autonomous self-sufficient manned exploratory mission to Ceres and the moons of Jupiter has a much better rational of scientific and engineering exploration and is an adventure that would be worthy of our efforts.
Posted by: Steven Ericsson-Zenith | June 10, 2008 08:06 AM