A Fettered Mind

“I really think — what I hope — is that when Curiosity lands on Mars…it’s just going to blow everyone’s mind, and we’re going to see this explosion in interest in science the way it was during the Apollo era. That’s our hope, anyway; we’ll see what we deliver.”
– Charles Bolden, Head of NASA (here)

At 1:31 A.M. EDT this Monday, August 6th, a machine the size of a Mini Cooper with a red, laser-spitting eye, will land on the surface of Mars.

The scientists and other team members at NASA’s Mars Science Lab have nicknamed this, the newest rover set to comb the Red Planet, “Curiosity” — as this mission surely represents for the scientific community, and for the rest of us, an ushering in of a new and important era of space exploration characterized by heightened risk, innovation, and a persistent curiosity in…