In the middle of the frivolity of the Olympics comes the news that NASA has successfully landed a car-sized 'rover' on the surface of Mars.
While we may all be marvelling at the Earth-based achievements of some of our greatest athletes, such as the almost unbelievable Usain Bolt, NASA's success overnight will undoubtedly have much longer lasting consequences for manhkind. The rover, nicknamed 'Curiosity', has already sent back a few pictures and will soon start its real mission, wandering around the surface of the 'Red Planet' collecting and analysing rock and dust samples, probing the ground and generally searching for any signs that there was once life on this now barren world.
The technical achievement in successfully landing 'curiosity' is, itself, a marvel. The consequences for humanity if the rover does find any conclusive evidence that Mars once played host to living organisms will be inconceivable. In contrast, the Olympic Games, fun as they are, will rapidly fade into history and be no more than a minor footnote. Strange, then, that it's stll the Olympics which dominate the news.
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