It happened that February 1 was the first day of the "Destination Mars" exhibit at the Discovery Center in Fort Collins. Several members of RMMS, including me, were there to set up our table and talk to people about the Mars Society. A friend of mine asked how we could even consider talking to anyone about going to Mars after the loss of the shuttle. After all, seven people just lost their lives, possibly due to a problem with their spacecraft. It may be months or years before another shuttle flies. But implicit in the question was another: "Is it worth it?" I realized that these questions and the concerns they reflected needed to be addressed now rather than later. During its news conferences, I saw that NASA felt the same way, and had the same answers.

Any endeavor that goes beyond the known and the comfortable, that tries to take humankind to new places and new understanding, has associated risks. The people involved in those endeavors are aware if the risks, and take them willingly. The value of what these people do is defined in a real way by what they risk in doing it, as well as what it can lead to. They know in their hearts that if they are successful, they will make a positive difference in the lives of people everywhere. They feel very personally the need to explore and to learn that drove humanity to colonize the continents, to discover the physical laws that govern the Universe, and to develop the technologies that enable the world to support a population of billions.

When we talk about going to Mars, we are talking about a step in the expansion of humanity into space. Astronauts have committed their lives to the endeavor of exploring and utilizing space. The loss of Columbia demonstrates what it truly means to "commit one's life" to something. This is worth talking about at a time like this. We must suffer as few losses as we can. We must forge ahead, knowing that if we don't, the losses will have been, to some extent, in vain. No one in the astronaut corps would think of backing out because of what happened. If anything, it galvanizes them, and should galvanize the rest of us, to continue in this noble endeavor.

— Brad Jarvis, President, Rocky Mountain Mars Society