Brain Rage Is Going To Mars

Regular readers may have noticed that I have a bit of an interest in space exploration of both the fictional and reality-based kind. When I was a little kid I wanted to be an astronaut and it is still one of my lifelong ambitions to go into space, even if it's only as a tourist in low Earth orbit. But one of my main interests and passions has always been the planet Mars. I studied the Cydonia Face pictures as a kid, lamented the crash of the Climate Orbiter in 1999, followed the progress of the rovers Spirit and Opportunity in 2003, and I've read science-fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson's epic trilogy Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars so many times that I have an intricate knowledge of the planets major features and topography (I just threw Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall into my PS3 as I started writing this post just to get me into that "Mars" mood; "Consider dat a divorce!").

I've just read that NASA is sending another rover to the red planet in 2011 and they're letting anyone who so chooses add their names to a microchip that will be onboard and will eventually spend the rest of its existence there (providing that it isn't retrieved at some later date and placed in a Mars museum installation on Earth but I have a feeling that such an exhibit would most likely be permanently located on its planet of study). So in a few short years "Brain Rage" will be encoded upon that chip and will be placed upon my second favorite planet in the solar system (Earth wins that contest because of its breathable atmosphere and its abundance of pubs and taverns but Mars may surpass it at some point in the future if the science of terraforming really takes off, although I suspect that I may not be around to actually change my mind on the subject at that time). You can add your name to the chip at this link. Join me amongst the stars, won't you?

(via)