And the importance of this goes way beyond space travel, once a nation shows it has the ambition, the ingenuity and the economic strength to mount such a mission. Just as the launch of Sputnik in 1957 showed that the Soviets were a technological power to be reckoned with, so it will be with India or China. These countries recognize that dynamic economies need to create something for the nation to export — be it providing the innovation for electronic goods, or whatever. Lunar missions — and, beyond that, Mars missions — are hugely effective in bringing young people into science and technology.
In the West, we have now had two generations who have missed out on such inspiration. Indeed, we risk our top scientists migrating to Asia.
If you went into a British classroom and asked how many children wanted to be a scientist, on average 2 percent would put their hands up. In India, about 30 percent would say yes. That’s the difference between the West and the emerging economies; and that’s why, ultimately, if we don’t address this situation, it could be us staffing their call centers.
Colin Pillinger was the principal investigator for the Beagle 2 Mars project, part of the European Space Agency’s 2003 Mars Express mission.
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