The Quest for Mars

The modern age has its own version of the quests launched by ancient Greeks and Medieval Knights. It lies with space exploration. In 2005, Harry Lambright of the Maxwell School, Syracuse University, addressed the Storytellers’ Conference with a general review of the US space endeavor, with an emphasis on Apollo and the Moon. This year he will focus on the "Quest for Mars." Mars is the Holy Grail of human spaceflight. A manned Mars flight lies in the future, but the journey to Mars has already begun via robotic explorers. Spirit and Opportunity, the roving vehicles now on Mars’s surface, have returned striking images of the Red Planet that have excited scientists and the general public with possibilities of present and extraterrestrial life. The story of America’s journey to Mars includes scientists, politicians, administrators, interest groups, a meteorite from Mars, and even a high-priced Washington call girl. America is now preparing to return to the Moon, but Mars is humanity’s ultimate destiny in the 21st century.