various additions to Mars topic:
1) My favorite movie so far about exploring Mars:
The Red Planet -- It was so poignant and effectively emphasized the narrow tolerances of life-support equipment (although they did take off their helmets during part of the movie) and the precariousness of moving people around in tin cans so far from Earth ... what are your favorite movies about exploring Mars?
2) I was able to meet a supervisor of a previous mission to Mars just before the successful landing in 1996 or 1997, because he came to speak in our town.
3) Rep. Barney Frank is from Massachusetts, not Rhode Island. Sorry for the error.
4) I found out this week that J.B.S. Haldane contributed, with an essay about the future, to the inspiring content of a book by Olaf Stapledon, Last and First Men. Stapledon's work, in turn, helped inspired Arthur C. Clarke's interest in space while a youth.
These writings greatly concerned space exploration.
Mike