Off to the east in the early night sky is Mars. I don't suppose there are any Martians. If there are, they've done a good job hiding from the rovers.
Standing out in the spring night looking at the small reddish light in the sky, and thinking about what was entailed in sending a robot craft to land there and explore on our behalf - it seems more amazing than ever.
And when I see a picture of Earth taken by the rover from the surface of Mars, the tiny scale of our planet in the universe is more tangible.
Perhaps most astonishing is that Mars is currently at a relatively close 55 million miles away. 55 million miles. I walk about 2.5 miles most days going to and from work. I could walk to Mars - in 60,000 years! But I'd be pretty tired by then, and I'm not sure I'd want to stay - so need to allow another 60,000 years to walk home.
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