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Science Fiction Becomes Science as NASA's Spirit Rovers Land on Mars

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 January 2004, 06:00 CST

Robert Hogg, a noted robotics engineer, has hailed the successful landing of NASA's Spirit 1 rover on the surface of Mars as "A major milestone in man's exploration of space and his conquest of interplanetary -- and ultimately intergalactic -- space travel."

Hogg's statement on the ongoing robot exploration of Mars coincided with President Bush's announcement of a long-term space program that would involve new manned landings on the moon no later than 2020, development of the moon as a staging base and springboard for deeper space missions, and a manned mission to Mars, sometime after 2030 -- a project that will cost billions to execute.

Mr. Hogg, who has been working in the area of robotics technology development and research, said the successful journey of Spirit 1 is a new vivid example of how science fiction is becoming science.

Hogg said his interest in science and technology, as with many other engineers, was spurred by his early interest in science fiction literature, from H.G. Wells and Isaac Asimov to L. Ron Hubbard and Robert Heinlein.

Hogg agreed with other leading scientists that with the success of the first Spirit rover, "reality has far surpassed fantasy."

He noted particularly that in L. Ron Hubbard's introduction to the science fiction epic, "Battlefield Earth," the author states, "Science fiction does not come after the fact of a scientific discovery or development. It is the herald of possibility. It is the plea that someone should work on the future. Yet it is not prophecy. It is the dream that precedes the dawn when the inventor or scientist awakens and goes to his books or his lab and says 'I wonder whether I could make that dream come true in the world of real science.'"

He also emphasized that the new Mars missions and future missions to Mars and to other planets in the solar system reaffirm the long-term objectives that were initially defined in 1945 at a gathering of scientists and science fiction writers -- many of whom were both -- at Robert Heinlein's home in Los Angeles. Hubbard described the meeting in his introduction to "Battlefield Earth""...do you know what was their agenda? How to get man into space fast enough so that he would be distracted from future wars on Earth."

Reflecting on the growing role of robotic space travel -- a theme of science fiction writers like Hubbard and others have envisioned -- was also dramatically highlighted in the last two weeks by the Stardust spacecraft that successfully passed through the tail of a comet and collected samples of the comet's trailing debris that will now be brought back to Earth.

Citing another example of science fiction becoming hard science, Hogg noted that NASA's Voyager 1, launched in the summer of 1977, has now reached what is called the Heliopause -- the point where our solar system ends and deep interstellar space begins -- some 9 billion miles from Earth. Pointing out that Voyager 1, which holds a gold-plated phonograph record describing life on Earth, is a major element in Hubbard's Battlefield Earth when the novel's alien invaders encounter a space probe, follow its directions back to Earth and overwhelm the planet.

Hogg said the images from the first rover provide a spectacular window into the geography of the "Red Planet" and underscores NASA's continuing program to search for extraterrestrial life. Spacecraft orbiting the planet have already discovered large amounts of water on Mars -- the main substance necessary in life's development.

 For More Information Contact: Beverly Tanner Dateline News Service (310) 821-0309 datelinecom@yahoo.com

SOURCE: Dateline News Service

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