By JON ERICSON, Courier Staff Writer

CEDAR FALLS --- It's the stuff of dozens of science fiction movies wrapped in one, minus the laser guns, of course.

The Spirit rover that landed on Mars last week has captured the imagination of Americans. And for University of Northern Iowa astronomy professor Tom Hockey, it's no surprise.

"NASA has tapped into two things that fascinate people," Hockey said. "People love Mars, and people love robots."

The rover this week stood up and took in its surroundings with infrared vision for the first time, even as it remained parked atop the lander that carried it to the red planet a week ago. Spirit unfolded its front wheels and locked them into place, putting it closer to the day when it should roll onto the sands.

The first indications of the geologic makeup of Spirit's surroundings could support theories liquid water persisted on the planet's surface in the ancient past. Scientists, though, stressed finding minerals called carbonates is not immediate proof.

Months of additional measurements by Spirit are needed to resolve that and other important questions.

"We've got a bunch of ideas, and we don't know which one is right yet," said Steven Squyres of Cornell University, the mission's main scientist.

Manned flight has long been a staple of the American space program, partly for political reasons: People like to see people in space. But starting with the Pathfinder mission to Mars in 1997, unmanned missions also have drawn the public's attention.

These days, average citizens can keep up with news from Mars in nearly real time. The Internet allows people track events from their home computers, so they know things much sooner than they would have in earlier eras.

"There was a day when data from NASA spacecraft was considered proprietary. Not only did they not go out of their way to publicize, but they worked to keep it under wraps," Hockey said. The idea was to allow scientists involved with the mission to have first and exclusive access to the information gathered in space.

But these days, the scientists have encouraged more widespread publicity about space missions. They appreciate the public interest.

Combine the widespread interest in Mars with the more readily available information and you've got a real draw.

This mission holds particular interest, because the rover on Mars is gathering data regarding whether life exists or once existed on the planet.

"I think this is an important mission scientifically, because it is the first mission to go down there and look for the presence of water," Hockey said. "The key question and the one everyone wants answered, 'Is there life on Mars?' depends on answers to the question of did Mars hold water."

Those answers will have to wait, as Spirit has not yet begun roving around the planet. It is expected to do so this week and continue daily missions for three months.

But the exciting thing so far is the rover appears to be operating well and landed on target. Previous missions have failed to meet those two goals.

Spirit landed near what scientists thought could have been a basin for water in the past. It will hunt for evidence that water once did exist on Mars.

NASA has been moving slowly with Spirit so far.

"Part of this is caution, but part of this is practical," Hockey said.

It takes 20 minutes to get communication back from the rover. At that rate, it takes a long time to make sure all systems are functioning properly. NASA has been testing the instruments before sending the rover out and about.

Once it does, it will have a different target mission nearly every day for the entire three months --- quite possibly longer.

"I just want to give a hats off to the scientists working on this mission," Hockey said. "They truly are today's modern explorers."

For the scientists involved with the project, the mission may give some answers to research they have done their entire lives. But if a mission goes wrong, such as with Japan's Nozomi probe that didn't make it to Mars, those answers will remain elusive.

"These people are betting it all on one or two missions," Hockey said.

Already scientists have been hungrily receiving data from Spirit from rocks near the rover unit. But it's just an appetizer for what is to come.

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