Mars presents solution to our problem

Scientists think there might be water on Mars, making it the greatest opportunity since gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill 160 years ago. Or when Lewis and Clark explored the West. Or when Lewis and Martin perfected the buddy genre during the 1950s.

This is Manifest Destiny for the 21st century. It could be a game-changer for Earth, if we play things right and seize the day.

And the water. As much of it as we can.

Stick with me on this.

The initial report came from NASA, which was bold, if naive, about the discovery. At least according to a report in The New York Times, which I read every day while wearing a sweater and smoking a pipe.

“This is tremendously exciting,” said James L. Green, the director of NASA’s planetary science division, at a news conference. “We haven’t been able to answer the question, ‘Does life exist beyond Earth?’ But following the water is a critical element of that. We now have, I think, great opportunities in the right locations on Mars to thoroughly investigate that.”

Oh, yeah. A great opportunity. The greatest opportunity ever to solve our water problems.

Scientists, taking a break from conducting studies about whether coffee is healthy or unhealthy, said that the water on Mars is not in oceans, lakes or rivers – although those all existed in the distant past (the 1970s). They say the water is in the small patches of damp soil, indicating Mars may be a lot like drought-stricken California.

The scientists indicated that they are unsure of from where the water came, saying it comes from "above or below," an answer that would be disqualified on most game shows.

Anyway, here's the opportunity: Water. On Mars.

Think about it.

We need water and a neighboring planet has it. Mars could solve our drought problems.

I suggest that we launch a plan similar to President Kennedy's in 1960, when he announced that we would land a man on the moon by the end of the decade (a less-known Kennedy guarantee during the same speech: That we would wear bell-bottom pants by the end of the decade. Both were right.).

This is our time. Mars is ripe for exploration and exploitation. It's floating in space, with plenty of water, taunting us.

Let's take it!

If we launch a spaceship to Mars, carrying drills and 35 million miles of pipe, we can mine that planet for water and use it to fill our hot tubs, water bottles and hanging planters. Imagine a long pipe, like the proposed XL Pipeline – but have it running from Mars to a huge set of reservoirs in California.

It's simple. We have rockets. We have plenty of PVC pipe. In a zero-gravity environment, the wear and tear on the pipes would be minimal, so they'd last much longer than the Bay Bridge.

This solves several problems:

It gives NASA something tangible to do.
It creates jobs in the construction industry.
It gives us water.
And if we foul up Mars' atmosphere, who cares? It's just Mars – and the start of "global warming" there might bring the average temperature from the current 67 degrees below zero to something like Earth's. Does anyone else think it might be a vacation paradise?

If we don't mine Mars for water, we're missing a huge opportunity, because where else are we going to get water?

Uranus?

That's would be gross.

Brad Stanhope is a former Daily Republic editor. Reach him at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.