I have no idea why there is this connection, and from the dates involved it doesn’t seem to be an April Fool thing, but apparently evidence of saltwater on Mars fulfilled conditions for a pledge by Long John Silver’s to give away giant shrimp in May.

So wheeee! Free space saltwater Mars shrimp!

(thanks to Glen of course)

I know I’m obsessed with this, but I guess I’m not the only one. We’ve got some U.S. Senators (bipartisan!) introducing a resolution to keep the blessed thing going. Yay!

All that iron-rich soil has to be good for something. At least the Mars Botanic Garden people seem to think so….

You might like the souvenirs.

Sorry, couldn’t think of anything else. Apparently American astronauts have joined in the protests against the destruction of the Hubble Telescope. There really has to be some way of making a reprieve, and I admire the astronauts who are willing to continue risking their lives in the name of science.

I’m especially annoyed because I heard yesterday that fundies on Bush’s staff are pushing to get rid of the Hubble because it provides too much evidence about the actual age of the universe…. Grrrrr….

It may sound odd, but I’m not too keen on the Bush administration’s new space initiative. On the surface it may seem like everything I’ve asked for from NASA (a coherent direction, emphasis on permanent Moon/Mars colonies). Unfortunately, at its core it suffers from the Bush syndrome: too much pork and not nearly enough direction or funding.

This Space Daily article sums it up much better than I could. I can only hope that once Kerry gets into office he’ll take the rhetoric and make it into a real space program.