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PRESCIENT REALITY
Truth is more fantastic than fiction...
This first installment looks at the feasibility of a manned Mars mission and possible colonization. There has been a greater interest in this issue since the successful Pathfinder/Sojourner missions, and an influx of Mars related sf novels, most notable the award-winning "Mars Trilogy" by Kin Stanley Robinson (Spectra).

MARS NOW!
by James Taylor

    Mars, the red planet of intrigue, God of War, has inspired emperors and peasants alike throughout time. The long crimson shadow of the wavering light we often see in the night sky has been cast over wars and turmoil, revolution and artistry, for millennia. But now we are on the verge of conquering Ares and claiming his glory for our own.

    Rich with mineral and other natural resources long awaiting our scientific development and mental preparedness, Mars has beckoned to the explorers' urge to overcome every obstacle that lay just beyond our reach. The time is nigh when we may finally fulfill our human destiny and achieve the next phase of our ever-expanding borders-physical and spiritual.

    Since humans first sprouted forth somewhere in the south of Africa we have been compelled to push the boundaries of our existence further and further, even at great cost to life and culture. With Mars, there are no known inhabitants, and, while I do not deny the probability that primitive microbes could occupy the rusted sands of our near neighbor, the chance that developed life forms are roaming around in subterranean tunnels is at best, remote. While this is cause for caution when approaching the surface and risking contamination of the virgin ecosystem that may await, with a little preparation cheap probes can, and will, be sent to search for, and study, such life forms. In the likely event that these probes fail to produce any certain results, the human touch will be required.

    While I may be sure humans will set foot on Mars in my lifetime, most of the public would be skeptical upon hearing such a statement, therefore, a bit of convincing is in order.