Go up, young inventor, go up

Did you notice the story last week about Google co-sponsoring a $20 million prize for the first private company to land a robotic rover on the moon and send back images and video to earth?

It reminded us of Robert Heinlein's classic science fiction novel, "The Man Who Sold the Moon," which was also about a scrappy start-up company with big ideas.

Of course, Google is well past the start-up phase, but there is no doubt that their $20 million prize will be encouraging thousands of young inventors and engineers to start dreaming about the moon. Eventually we would not be surprised to see a cheaper, easier way to make the trip than NASA has thought of.

There's already a $50 million prize in place for the first American team to put a manned craft into lunar orbit by 2010. Possibly, in some backyard, that mission is already being attempted.

We hope so. The prize probably won't cover all expenses, engineers say, but it will make it possible to dream big - and sometimes that is all it takes.

Just when you thought the story had been told and retold, here comes a new look at one of the most interesting chapters in Montana history.

We're referring to the Mann Gulch Fire, famous for the deaths of 13 smoke jumpers 58 years ago.

A new book, "A Great Day to Fight Fire: Mann Gulch, 1949," takes a close look at how the firefighting tragedy affected many people and shifts the focus from the fire to the men who fought it.

That focus includes the firefighters' relatives and the particularly poignant story of Andre Anderson of Kalispell. She lost not only her brother-in-law to the fire, but later her sister. Consumed by grief and tormented by dreams of the fire, the sister took her own life 10 years after Mann Gulch.

"A Great Day to Fight Fire" promises to be a worthy addition to the many pieces that have been written about the fatal fire. And it's a particularly timely reminder - as the epic fire season of 2007 still smolders - of the heroic nature of those who battle fire.

We were sorry to hear about the plight of Steve Nardi, the well-known local attorney who had an unfortunate boating accident last week.

Nardi already was suffering from a longstanding kidney ailment, which had forced him to curtail his practice some time ago. But the trauma of the boating accident led to removal of both his kidneys.

The prayers of the community are with Nardi and his family, as we hope for a smooth recovery and a timely transplant.