Much of the lively chatter about sending humans to Mars before the end of this decade ( and some tech bros were seriously talking about this) seems to have died down. People with lots of money who should know better openly talked about colonisation, the establishment of permanent communities, the inevitability of the Martian conquest - all in the very near future. Someone was even talking about terraforming Mars. Who might that have been?

Perhaps they were mugged by reality - some scientists, such as biologists and physicists - had a long chat about the obstacles and so forth. Perhaps a few only have shortish attention spans, but whatever happened, the focus has shifted again to the Moon. Rightly, it seems to me.

Lets be clear about some of the problems that a manned flight to Mars would encounter. The journey is eight months long and exposure to cosmic rays presents a serious health threat. There is no magnetosphere in space. Landing on Mars is tricky. Building a return space rocket and harvesting the fuel from the Martian world would be an enormous (though feasible) undertaking. The launch to return home must occur in a brief window that occurs only every 26 months. The return launch is fraught with peril - you only have to look at the number of postponements on Earth - and if you have to cancel you might miss the window and be stuck on Mars.

That's just a few. I doubt whether a manned Martian trip will happen before the end of the century, and only if technology has resolved some of the issues, and a costly infrastructure has already been built (robotically) on the Red Planet. It is nice to dream but not at the expense of the brave souls who journey forth.

Memorial Garden

What seed was sown here?

That rows of teeth

Grow slantwise from the ground.

What ligament or root,

What tangle underneath?

If there is breath

It's a lisping bay-breeze,

Or a rap-rapping

Of lately orphaned leaves,

Whose fall and twist

Conjures a clement

mantle all around.

As dust settles and roses hang,

A lone cloud sits like tufted ink,

There's so much toing and froing here,

Shadows in a diorama,

I think,

And there's my mother,

Two years gone now,

Underground.

 

“The battle of Fromelles on 19 July 1916 was a bloody initiation for Australian soldiers to warfare on the Western Front. Soldiers of the newly arrived 5th Australian Division, together with the British 61st Division, were ordered to attack strongly fortified German front line positions near the Aubers Ridge in French Flanders. The attack was intended as a feint to hold German reserves from moving south to the Somme where a large Allied offensive had begun on 1 July. The feint was a disastrous failure. Australian and British soldiers assaulted over open ground in broad daylight and under direct observation and heavy fire from the German lines. Over 5,500 Australians became casualties. Almost 2,000 of them were killed in action or died of wounds and some 400 were captured. This is believed to be the greatest loss by a single division in 24 hours during the entire First World War. Some consider Fromelles the most tragic event in Australia’s history.”

This is an extract from an article on the battle of Fromelles that I found at the Australian War Memorial Museum (internet site) in Canberra. Because today is Anzac Day, and because Anzac Day is most famously associated with Gallipoli, I thought it worthwhile to highlight one of the many other battles that the AIF fought in in WW1.

In fact the AIF fought widely across the Western Front and in the Middle East, but it is the Gallipoli landings and the subsequent defeat that lives most vividly in the imagination. It is not hard to understand why. A dramatic landing under heavy fire in the wrong place, a terrible slog to get a purchase on the cliffs and slopes. A long period of attrition in trenches, with the Turks having the home advantage all the while. Finally, the cleverly thought deceits that allowed for a safe mass evacuation. Some of the elements of the campaign look forward to another war – D-Day and Dunkirk.

Today we remember those servicemen and women who fought and died for Australia. One can hate war and still be grateful for their sacrifice.

‘At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.’

Lest We Forget

Yesterday I had surgery on a BCC on the bridge of my nose, a procedure that necessitated general anaesthetic. It's been worrying me for weeks now, but I was surprised at how calm I was on the morning and calmer still before being wheeled into the theatre.

It need not have worried or surprised me really, because I had prayed quite earnestly about it and knew with certainty that whatever the outcome, God was beside me. A greater peace than that is hard to imagine.

My wife drove home since I was not allowed to and sleep was restless, probably due to the anaesthetic. I also had to try to lie in a position that would leave my nose unencumbered, which is not my usual way of lying. Still, very much a first world problem. How grateful I am for good medical care and the means to pay for it I cannot account for, it being greater than the sum of my words.

Sunday last Ann and I did the Grand Canyon bushwalk at Blackheath. It surprised me that I have never done this walk before because when I first moved up here, I regularly did weekend walks. Perhaps it was the drive to Blackheath that put me off - I can't remember.

Grand Canyon is a name that might be hard to live up to, but grand it is, not in terms of size, but the sheer beauty of the steep gorge, with creeks and waterfalls abounding. Part-way down we encountered some canyoners geared up to explore the recesses and caves. The water is very cold and I'm sure they were repayed with a fine experience.

For the last few days my calf muscles have been aching, for while I was certainly fit enough for the 7 km track, I was not used to climbing up and down so many stairs. But a great walk it was and much to be recommended.

 Good Friday

Am I a stone and not a sheep
 That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy Cross,
 To number drop by drop Thy Blood's slow loss,
And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved
 Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
 Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;

Not so the Sun and Moon
 Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
 A horror of great darkness at broad noon—
I, only I.

Yet give not o'er,
 But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
 Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.

Christina Rossetti

After a couple of wisely considered delays in launch, Artemis 2 has finally set off on its mission to orbit the moon and return. I watched the launch and subsequent NASA press conference this morning.

It's exciting that a manned crew are returning to our only lunar friend after a 50 year hiatus. The Apollo missions of that time were extraordinary, full of risk and courage and achievement. Technology has moved on but the rocket itself seems eerily similar in many respects to the Saturn 5 - humans perched atop a massive load of burning fuel.

The orbital path of Artemis is also very interesting and I republish a NASA diagram below. I look forward to reading articles about the mission on 'What's in Space 'in coming broadcasts. May God keep them safe, both outbound and inbound.