This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I am inspired by Curiosity, the rover we successfully landed on Mars. It makes me proud that our nation undertakes such projects in the quest for knowledge. Humankind must always be seeking, "going where no one has gone before."
Still, I am sad that there aren't other projects like this in the pipeline. Given the lead time of half a decade or more, we should have several in development.
I agree with President Barack Obama canceling development of a new rocket to replace the Space Shuttle in taking humans to the International Space Station. That's an area where private industry is beginning to emerge, and we should nurture that.
But with projects like Curiosity, no private enterprise is doing that — it's pure research without a profit motive — and that's clearly a role for government.
If we're going to remain leader of the world we must lead in this area of science.
Richard O'Callaghan
Sandy