Lyle Kelly greets a visitor to his home in this Cincinnati suburb with a button proclaiming “Mars or Bust” pinned to his tan cardigan. As chairman of the Ohio chapter of the Mars Society, Kelly helps lead a drive to persuade the U.S. government to commit to human exploration and settlement of the red planet. The society, founded in 1998, boasts 3,000 to 4,000 members who this month launched a lobbying effort to visit or provide materials to every lawmaker in Congress. Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society, said the United States could have humans on Mars in 10 years at a cost of $20 billion. He said his group’s offensive has begun now, in part, to grab the attention of the incoming Bush administration.
January 2nd, 2001
Actor Ray Walston Dies
Ray Walston, who played the lovable extraterrestrial Uncle Martin on the 1960s sitcom “My Favorite Martian” and the devil in the Broadway musical “Damn Yankees,” has died. He was 86. In “My Favorite Martian,” Walston played opposite Bill Bixby as a Martian stranded on Earth. His antennae-sprouting alien character masqueraded as Bixby’s “Uncle Martin” and spent most of his time trying to conceal his identity from curious Earthlings.
November 26th, 2000
NASA Scientist Soffen Dies at 74
Gerald Soffen, project scientist on NASA’s Viking missions to Mars, died Wednesday of a heart ailment. He was 74. Soffen most recently was director of university programs at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, where he led the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s study of life in the universe through its astrobiology program.
November 8th, 2000
At the Movies: `Red Planet’
By 2050, the overpopulated Earth has been depleted of its resources. The atmosphere is poisoned and slowly dying. Even the frogs are extinct. The solution: find a potentially hospitable planet for colonization. Hence, the Mars Terraforming Project, which has strewn algae over a stretch of Mars in an effort to create enough oxygen to sustain human life. The mechanism for transmitting data on the experiment has failed, and a manned spaceship, commanded by Carrie-Anne Moss, has been launched to investigate. This is the premise of “Red Planet,” a mildly diverting adventure film for those who enjoy thrills and shocks without having to think too much.
October 6th, 2000
Veep Debate Compared to Ali-Frazier
For Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, it was the “Thrilla in Manilla,” an epic boxing match in 1975 that was one of the most savage bouts in history. For Joseph Lieberman and Dick Cheney, it was the “Thrill in the ‘Ville.” At least that’s the way host Centre College saw Thursday’s vice presidential debate. There were people opposed to something – new Interstate highways, sweatshops, cruelty to animals, gun violence, the death penalty, abortion. A few favored things, notably manned exploration of Mars. “The time has come to go to Mars,” said Lyle Kelly of the Mars Society. “Mankind seems to do its best when we have a challenge.”
October 5th, 2000
China Plans Lunar Landing
China’s budding space program plans to explore the moon for commercially useful resources and hopes one day to take part in an international expedition to Mars, members of the secretive program said Wednesday. Speeches at a bland forum by the head of the State Aerospace Bureau and a key researcher gave rare glimpses into the military-dominated program.
October 3rd, 2000
Varied Protesters Come For Debate
Thousands of protesters gathered before the presidential debate Tuesday, championing issues from campaign finance reform to the right of third-party candidates to be included in the matchup between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush. Demonstrators from all points on the political spectrum were represented. Anti-death penalty advocates mingled with people protesting China’s treatment of the Falun Gong spiritual movement. People calling for manned missions to Mars were near a group of Palestinians decrying Israeli military action.
August 3rd, 2000
Science Mission Costs Soar
Proposed budgets for new NASA space exploration missions are rising as much as 40 percent in the aftermath of back-to-back Mars failures and the agency is considering canceling some projects, a key administrator said Thursday.
August 1st, 2000
GOP Platform: Everything Under The Sun
A few items get the most attention – it’s abortion ad infinitum, education everywhere. Yet Republicans, in their newly minted platform, spare a thought for trucks, American Samoa, and Pennsylvania Avenue. They even looked to the heavens and found a plank: “We will ensure that this Nation can expand our knowledge of the universe, and with the support of the American people, continue the exploration of Mars and the rest of the solar system.”
June 28th, 2000
Mars Hides Much More Water, Study Suggests
New research claims the crust of Mars may harbor up to three times more water than previously thought, providing the latest blow to the tarnished notion that the planet today is a dry, lifeless place.