What’s all this
hype about Mars in the western media? For years, the mysteries of
Mars have captivated people’s imagination. However, marketing firms
have once again managed to prostitute and gimmick something in order
gain notoriety and make money.
Ever since the
botched Mars probe mission that was launched by NASA, there has been
a stir as to what happened to the probe. With this buzz in the air,
marketing buffs have put together two separate but equally lame
schemes involving the Red Planet.
The first scheme
involves the most recent attempt to gather information from the
planet’s surface. In it, the ambitious European Space Agency (ESA)
will head the mission that will send a scout probe to drill for soil
samples to be analyzed. Perhaps this doesn’t seem to be out of the
ordinary thus far? Here’s the kicker! The ESA is sending the space
probe with multinational corporations jostling to place their
emblems aboard its chassis.
Emblazoned with
logos that may be seen by billions of people back home, the little
lander, Beagle 2, will break with precedent in pure-science projects in
space – an area that by tradition is funded only by governments on
account of the huge costs incurred and the often-limited interest
for the public. The 30-kilo (66-pound) rover will mark the first
commercial backing for an interplanetary mission, and sources
predict that if it succeeds, the sponsorship door will be flung open
for other big-ticket space projects.
This should make
your stomach churn! Not so much because a decent amount of funding
is going into the project through the sponsorship, but more so
because it comes at a time and age where gimmicks and slogans have
become commonplace in even the most sacred of arenas.
In the second
example, we have the latest science fiction film about the Red
Planet “Mission To Mars.” This film has the expected special
effects, but reviews have so far proclaimed “Mission To Mars” a lame
duck, lacking any substantial acting prowess from its characters.
The only thing anyone is concerned with here is making a flashy,
empty movie that looks like a million bucks and will hopefully make
100 times that at the box office. So far, it seems that the film
will accomplish that goal, but still lacks the imagination and depth
that people really need.
The west
desperately needs a scientific breakthrough that has depth as well
as pop appeal. In the age of Dreamcast game stations and E-trade,
the youth especially are in need of something that will stimulate
their brains more than watching paint dry on a wall. Unfortunately,
we live in a world that throws morality in the backseat and makes
room for money to ride shotgun. The most substantial question of the
day seems to be when we will be able to buy stock in Mars on our
E-bay accounts?
