In Which Our Curiosity May Yet Be Satisfied

A picture of a wheel confirms it: we
Have got our ass to Planet Mars again!
This time a great big laboratory
On wheels will roam its surface. Now and then,
O Human Race, you make me proud as hell
(Especially Keri Bean, my weather nerd
Who's worked on this as long as, really, well,
As long as I've known of her). I have heard
A giant gasp of wonder on this night.
And though we've just begun, have far to go
The fact that we can do this proves we might
Survive ourselves someday. For now, I know
Of nothing in the universe that could
E'er make me feel this glad, this cool, this good.

BONUS SONNET: On Why No Mars Space Laboratory Just Yet

Dry lubrication's only just the start
Of problems causing MSL's delay,
So I am told, and yes, it breaks my heart.
To see another project gone astray.
I've loved to watch the rovers do their jobs,
And hope to see much more as we improve
Their range and revving pow'r by heaps and gobs,
To let the next gen rovers eas'ly move
Across a wider swath of Mars. And then
There's all the budget wrangling that took place;
Each bureaucrat's and politician's pen
Threw on more zeroes, rules. O outer space!
Our future as a people counts on you,
But not enough agree, which makes me blue.