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| English: Artist's rendering of a Mars Exploration Rover. Français : Vue d'artiste d'un Mars Exploration Rover (litt. « rover d'exploration martienne »). (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
"We’re Safe On Mars!”
Ok, actually I am safe in Aspen
and this blog is supposed to be about Aspen
– so why am I writing about the Mars Curiosity Rover?
Although I haven’t yet been able to find any direct ties
between Aspen and the current Mars Curiosity Rover mission or the 2012 London Summer
Olympics,
the concurrence of these momentous events just begged for a post with this
title.
The Mars Rover Landing
While many eyes have been focused on the Olympics for the
last couple of weeks, captivating us with images of gymnasts “sticking their
landings” after performing their routines, another significant event has been
underway and has given the world an additional reason to cheer for a nearly
perfect performance.
At approximately 11:31 PM MDT, Curiosity, NASA’s latest Mars
rover, touched down on the surface of the Red Planet, signaling a new chapter
in planetary exploration – and it did so with the excellence of an Olympic gold
medalist’s winning gymnastic routine.
So, what does this have to do with Aspen?
Well, even though the Mars Rover mission doesn’t really appear to
have anything to do with my beloved home town, we Aspenites are known for consistently
attempting to associate ourselves with anything exceptional that is even
remotely related to Aspen. So I will now
attempt to do so – for both the Mars Rover landing and the London Olympics.
Aspen’s Olympic Legacy
Although I am not aware of any current summer Olympians
having direct ties to Aspen, in the past we have produced several Olympic
competitors: Alexi Grewal, Andy Mill, John Callahan, Gretchen Bleiler, Jeremy
Abbott, Chris Klug, Casey Puckett, Simi Hamilton, and Jake Zamansky, to name a
few.
I know that most of these are former winter Olympians, but
Grewal did win the gold medal in the 1984 Men's Individual Road Race, becoming
the first American man to win an Olympic gold medal in road cycling.
Also, Lance Armstrong lives here (yes, we try to take credit for him
sometimes as well).
Aspen’s Space Science Legacy
We’ve also produced astronauts, sort of. Gordon Cooper was
from Carbondale and Carbondale
is close to Aspen
(see how we slide into taking credit?) and we have been visited by a few astronauts,
such as former NASA Mission Specialist, John Grunsfeld, who presented a lecture on “Big Science Questions” at Paepke
Auditorium last month.
Furthermore, every summer for the last 50 years physicists
from around the world have been coming to Aspen to collaborate and share ideas
at the Aspen Center for Physics, discussing such topics as biophysics,
astrophysics and cosmology, particle physics, and condensed matter physics (this
must relate somehow to the Mars Rover landing).
Aspen’s Real Role in All of This
Seriously though, even if when we can’t take direct credit
for these current Olympic or Rover landing events, I think we can applaud
ourselves for being so interested in and supportive of them. As a group,
Aspenites have been captivated with seeking the Greek ideal of the mind-body-spirit
perfection for quite some time; and these events showcase the best qualities
humankind has to offer in all of these realms.
Examples of Aspen’s infatuation with this philosophy may be found
in such entities as Aspen Institute, the Aspen Music Festival and School, the
Aspen Center for Physics, the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, the AspenScience Center and other top-notch organizations. We also host the Winter X-Games,
World Cup ski races, and are about to host two USA Pro Cycling Challenge bicycle
races again this month.
Additionally, outside of these conspicuous venues and events, the
town consistently attracts many world-class athletes and minds who
choose to live here to be around their own kind as well as to enjoy the many
other lifestyle amenities the area has to offer. Even we non-uber atheletes and
mensas regularly avail ourselves of the multitude of recreational,
intellectual, and cultural activities and events that take place here.
Ultimately, after watching hours of the Olympics on television and having attended a few Aspen Physics events in the past year, I did decide to take the time (late in the evening) to watch a streaming live video of the control room for the Mars Rover landing. It was captivating!
Maybe the Aspen Center for Physics will get someone from the mission to rocket over to Aspen to give us a gold-medal presentation.
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