Editorial: Rotorua holds secrets of universe

Nasa's Mars Rover.

We are star dust, or so say Crosby, Stills Nash and Young.

But how did we turn from star dust into the fantastic beings we are today?

This is one of the questions being probed by Nasa scientists visiting Rotorua.

As we reported yesterday, they're here because Rotorua is an important site for astrobiologists.

It's easy to forget we live amid an amazing and wild landscape, dotted with boiling pools of water and mud, roaring geysers and steaming rocks.

Who would have thought the secrets of the universe, including perhaps life on other planets, could be unlocked in lil' old Rotorua?

Apparently Rotorua is similar in ways to other planets, with species and organisms never found anywhere else on Earth.

This makes it a perfect spot for a bit of astrobiological investigation.

Scientists will be collecting samples and data from Sulphur Point this weekend using Nasa Rovers, the wee vehicles boldly going where it's too hot or toxic for man or woman to go.

Crosby and Co also sang a great song about the Southern Cross. It's often the first thing I seek out when I look up at the night sky.

And as we know from our story last week, Rotorua's a great place for stargazing.

There's a line from the movie Interstellar: "We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars, now we just look down and worry about our place in the dirt."

One of the movie's key messages was that the answers do lie in the stars, that we stop exploring at our peril.

Funnily enough, despite what Matthew McConaughey's character says in the quote above, the answers may well be at our feet. In the sulphur-encrusted rocks and soil of Rotorua.