M2K4... 5... 6...
The plucky little Opportunity rover and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: two great tastes that taste great together. Say Cheese! We have dispatched an army of robots to unlock the secrets of the Red Planet. An army of robots. And the mission is progressing swimmingly! Wow, Jasper was right, "What a time to be alive."

Meanwhile, also in space, the International Space Station is becoming ever more international. Neat! Once the ISS is capable of supporting a "permanent" six-member crew we'll need an American astronaut/commander (The Right Stuff-type), a Russian cosmonaut, a European Space Agency astronaut (preferrably from Edinburgh), another American astronaut (scientist), a Japanese astronaut, and a Canadian astronaut. Mix them together and what do you get? Star Trek! Sulu was Japanese; Chekov was Russian; Scotty was Scottish; we don't have access to any Vulcans, but Leonard Nimoy is American, thus the American scientist-type; and while there weren't any Canadians in Captain Kirk's crew, actors William Shatner (Kirk) and the late James Doohan (Scotty) both hail from the Great White North. No state in Africa has yet mounted or chosen to participate in a space program; so, there won't be a direct analogue for Uhura. But the African states, either separately or cooperatively, will get there in time. I am absolutely certain.

And here are a pair of hyperlinks on the Orion spacecraft and why, in President Kennedy's memorable phrase, we choose to go to the Moon.

First we shall return to the Moon and then we shall go boldly where no man has gone before, enigmatic Mars. Science!