Opinion

Mission to Mars, 2013

The planet Mars is pictured in this March 10, 1997 Hubble Space Telescope file photograph. The planet Mars is pictured in this March 10, 1997 Hubble Space Telescope file photograph. Photo: NASA, REUTERS Photo: NASA, REUTERS Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Mission to Mars, 2013 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Development: Colorado university to lead mission to Mars

What it means: NASA just gave the University of Colorado at Boulder its largest research contract ever - to lead the mission that will launch an orbiting probe to Mars in 2013. The benefits of the nearly half-billion-dollar project are many: Every dollar spent on space exploration has an eightfold economic benefit; studying other planets helps us better understand our own; space expeditions are the 21st century equivalent of Columbus' voyages. And NASA's $16 billion annual budget is a drop in the bucket compared with the $10 billion a month we spend in Iraq. Still, a half-billion dollars could help with some urgent problems down here on Earth. The National Priorities Project estimates that it could provide a year of health care for 165,000 people, or power 830,000 homes with renewable energy for a year, or build 2,200 affordable housing units. But the study of Mars may still prove useful to Westerners: Our arid southern Utah desert is already used for Mars simulations, and that lifeless, dusty planet might foreshadow what's in store for the rest of our region as the climate warms and dries.

- Jodi Peterson

Development: Firefighting mistakes lead to prosecution

What it means: The Thirtymile Fire killed four young firefighters in north-central Washington on July 10, 2001. Five years later, Ellreese Daniels was indicted on 11 felony charges, including four counts of involuntary manslaughter. It was the first criminal prosecution of a Forest Service incident commander for negligence on the fire line, absent malice.

Every responsible firefighter believes in accountability on the fire line; that is how safety lessons are learned. But fire is dangerous, sometimes fatally so. Being jailed for having a bad day at work is an intimidating prospect.

In April, Daniels pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges and admitted trying to blame the fallen firefighters for his own mistakes. On Aug. 20, Judge Fred Van Sickle sentenced him to three years of probation and 90 days of work release, and ordered him never to fight fires again.

Daniels was clearly at fault, but his prosecution may have unfortunate consequences. Firefighters who know they could be jailed for making mistakes may be less aggressive in attacking fires, and few will want to become incident commanders. And that could lead to even worse mistakes.

- John N. Maclean