An article in the Concord Monitor suggests that the shift to interest in Saturn's moon (from focus on Mars) may presage a new era of global cooperation...
For the past year or so, America has had a couple of robotic explorers crawling around on Mars, the planet named for the god of war. Since Friday, however, the new information has been coming from Saturn, the son of Gaia (Mother Earth) and Ouranos (Father Sky).
Saturn is the god of agriculture. Though he took power by castrating his father with a sickle, Saturn's reign over the universe is known in mythology as the Golden Age. It was a time with neither harsh weather nor war. So maybe the ringed planet and its 30-some moons - at least two new ones have been discovered by Cassini -have something to teach Earth.
The cost of this great effort was shared by 20 nations. The $3.3 billion price tag for the mission is roughly what America spends in 19 days for the war in Iraq.
Ah, but can we be sure it will not be an era of castration?
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