Go, Spirit!

Forget about Dubya's stupid Martian plans and concentrate on the heartwarming news coming from NASA. The Spirit probe is now happily rolling around on the surface of Mars.

PASADENA, Calif. - The Spirit rover successfully rolled onto Mars early Thursday, placing its six wheels on solid martian ground for the first time since the robot bounced down on the Red Planet nearly two weeks ago.

Engineers and scientists at NASA (news - web sites)'s Jet Propulsion Laboratory cheered loudly after receiving confirmation at 5 a.m. EST that the maneuver was a success.

"Mars now is our sandbox, and we are ready to play and learn," said JPL director Charles Elachi.

Hearing all those scientists babble like happy children is almost enough to make me respect my country again.