Is there any point exploring the unvisitable reaches of the universe?

At 6.07 a.m. GMT on Tuesday June 8th 2004, the planet Venus began a rare four-hour passage across the face of the sun. Half the world watched, through devices ranging from gigantic solar telescopes through to paper-and-pinhole viewers, or via the internet. This unusual event has not been seen since 1882, and the only forthcoming ‘transit’ any of us will live to see is not until 2012.

There was something spectacularly humbling about the transit. It dwarfed the usual human sense of power and control, for nature dictated terms. The sun blinded anyone who looked carelessly; clouds frustrated even the most eager; and the transit accepted no one’s excuse for being late.

Space is like this. It is vast and impersonal, but keeps drawing people upward. When NASA’s two Mars Exploration Rovers arrived in January 2004, there was the same kind of stir as when the Viking landers of the mid-70’s sent back pictures of Mars’ rocky red terrain, to be emblazoned in glossy colour across ‘souvenir editions’ of tabloid newspapers. The Rovers’ missions are continuing, still being watched closely over the internet by thousands of people around the globe.

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