Bill Nye the Science Guy thinks President Bush needs to “Mapquest” his space program idea of going back to the moon, and then on to Mars. “The moon is not on the way to Mars,” said the bow-tied stand-up scientist/comedian. He’s the guy who made scientific geekiness “way cool” on his PBS and syndicated TV show with such stunts as roasting marshmallows in liquid nitrogen, eating them and blowing steam from his nose. “We’ve been to the moon. It’s empty,” he said in his ever-frenetic style. “It’s in no way cheaper to stop at the moon on the way to Mars. I don’t think you’ll find a scientist anywhere who will say to go to the moon, then go to Mars.”
February 20th, 2004
Rover’s images suggest traces of Mars water The Palm Beach Post
The first look beneath the Martian surface has shown that the soil composition changes dramatically with depth and hints that trace amounts of water have been present recently or might even be there now, researchers said Thursday. The Opportunity rover has spent the past three days examining a 4-inch-deep, 20-inch-long trench it created with its front wheel in Meridiani Planum.