The story of astronomy is one long, slow assault on our sense of self-importance. The ancients knew they were at the center of things. Their eyes told them that the sun and stars moved around them day and night, eternally circling their snug homes. It took the abstractions of science to undo the obvious. Copernicus dislodged the Earth from its place of glory and put the sun in the center. Before long, astronomers discovered that the sun was commonplace and that our own brilliant galaxy, the Milky Way, was actually just one of billions of star parties. Recently, astronomers have proposed a new glue for the universe, dark energy. It is incontrovertibly real, they insist, but, so far, beyond human comprehension.The record of cosmic insults, already staggering, could get worse if the current invasion of the red planet proves successful. While rocks and sand now hold center stage, the ultimate purpose of the work is to track water and what seems to be its nearly inevitable companion, life. Explorations of Mars - relatively dry now but wet long ago, scientists believe - are considered more likely to uncover fossils than extant forms.Even the White House has caught extraterrestrial fever.

This week, President George W. Bush is expected to announce plans to set up a human colony on the moon and eventually to send Americans to Mars to redouble the American exploratory push.


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