OUR OPINION Keep eye on Red Planet news Two NASA rovers will hunt for signs of life on Mars and provide stunning images along the way.

Your family should take a minute this week and look at the photos coming back from Mars.

The latest NASA attempt to reach Mars and explore the Earth’s closest neighbor for signs of life is under way. And so far this recent mission has been nothing short of astounding.

The robotic rover Spirit landed on the Red Planet’s surface on Saturday in the middle of the Gustev Crater, a massive basin carved out by a falling asteroid. The hunt is on for past or present traces of life-giving water. Is this crater a lake long gone dry?

Fresh black-and-white images of the planets barren surface started coming back to Earth even before the rover itself deployed. As Spirit begins its search, its cameras will provide high resolution, 360-degree views of the alien landscape.

NASA needed this win. After the Space Shuttle Columbia blew up during re-entry in February 2003, critics questioned the need and purpose of the nation’s space program. The government’s space program struggled publicly to stay on point.

Then there were the images of screaming and cheering scientists back in the California control room. Never did being a space cowboy look so fun.

But why the Red Planet and why now?

NASA’s current mission there reflects a fascination with the possibility of finding life on its surface. Italian astronomers first noted the canals on Mars’ surface in the late 1800s and sparked a sensation: Could they be channels carved by moving water or intelligent beings?

The discovery launched questions that persist in today’s science and fiction.

However, H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” seems far removed from the practical concerns of scientists associated with this current mission. Their most urgent questions – sparked by the presence of these canals – are three-fold, according to Bruce Jakowsky, director of the University of Colorado’s Center for Astrobiology.

What is the origin of life and how did evolution begin?

What role does planetary environment play in that process?

What is the potential for life in the solar system, and where is it?

More simply put – “Where do we come from, where are we going, and are we alone?”

To be sure, these central scientific questions about life on other planets created more than good novels about bad aliens. Scientific research related to the space program benefits people on Earth in a myriad of ways. War-related research leads to breakthroughs as well, but this is a peaceful challenge.

Four different space agencies – American, Russian, Japanese and European – have tried to reach the planet 35 times since 1960, according to United Press International. Only 13 trips succeeded.

And with Spirit’s landing, NASA’s mission is only half-finished. In three weeks NASA officials will attempt to land a second rover called Opportunity on the Meridiani Planum, a plain near Mars’ equator. This rover will follow another clue in the nearby presence of gray hematite, an iron oxide mineral usually associated with water on Earth.

In either case, the rovers promise an interesting ride. Imagine how our scientific understanding of the solar system might change because of what they find?

So, spend a couple of minutes with a newspaper or television show or a Web site focused on the new images of Mars’ surface. Even from afar, these pictures amaze, inform and inspire.

It’s good parenting to plant the seeds of the wonder of discovery. And your kids will thank you for taking time to share the experience with them.