S.O.D.

In an earlier post, I lamented the cost of doing business in the US, and said it has something to do with America's fall from grace in the world of architecture.

I held up Dubai as a good example, but mentioned only briefly that human rights take a back seat in that sort of development. In my plea for a middle ground, I didn't effectively communicate the degree to which human rights goes out the window.

This article for the UK's Guardian, and this one in Mother Jones, really drives home how badly the poor are treated in the pursuit of glimmering palaces and it is something anyone interested in architecture should read. It makes you feel pretty good that, even though we're not as impressive, we get some excellent buildings done while at the same time maintaining a high level of worker's rights.

That's not too bad, I think.

What we have here... is a failure to comunicate.

To celebrate my return to communication, I'll post about a loss of the same; namely, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). It recently celebrated its tenth year in space... from a mission designed for three.

It's kind of like the Enterprise, a five year mission that just keeps friggin' going. It also stands as a testament to what can happen when stuff goes right. The public eye has grown so jaded and selective as on to what it focuses that great successes that should be heralded barely manage a peep. Yet total failures earn as much coverage as Britney's most recent antics.

The fact that MGS lasted SEVEN years longer than expected, and if they fix the problem longer still, shows the grand dividends paid out from a prudent investment into science and discovery. There is no cost-benefit analysis that can effectively determine what can come from such investment.

I'm sure there were a number of insipid bureaucrats who whined about the cost of a mission set only to last three years, and yet here we are, ten years later. The dedication of those who love knowledge continually push projects beyond any expectations in this age of disinterest. I know that, in the future, it is they who will be honored, not those who complain about budgets, pinch pennies, and talk of no return on such massive investment.

An investment into the advancement of the human race returns not money, but instead something of such immense worth that it stands wholly beyond measure. I would rather know a single thing than have a million dollars in my pocket.

NASA struggles to contact lost Mars probe (Via NewScientist.com)