Exploring Mars A Waste Of Money?

[Coito ergo sum]

Although I love SF, and have a romantic attachment to the idea of human space exploration, on a purely rational basis, a manned trip to Mars (or even back to the moon) would be a waste of resources at the moment. NASA has shown clearly that sophisticated exploration and data gathering can be achieved by robotic vehicles, at a fraction of the cost of sending humans. Go robots!

Except that one of the main points of space exploration is to send humans there. It's not so much a means, but an end.

A Moon base and regular space flight to and from the Moon are necessary first steps in this process. The Moon is very close compared to any of the planets, and since we are pretty good at low Earth orbit stuff now, the next logical step is to master the Moon and Lagrange points around the Earth. That is why the cancellation of the Constellation program was such a monumental blunder and shortsighted, myopic "pennywise and pound foolish" mistake. I fucking hate those who participated in the cancellation of that program. We'd be less than 5 years away from seeing humans back on the Moon right now.

The Mars mission is wonderful. But, we need to double-down and add to the robotics programs a mission to Mars as well as a mission to the moon to build a base. Won't happen, because Romney is as fucking shortsighted in this regard as Obama was. Nobody cares about the space program, unfortunately, because most of the public thinks it's a waste of money.

For those posting here opposing the space program -- think about that. You're in line with what most of the majority of the public thinks is right. How many times has the majority of the public ever been right about a matter of science? Most of them can barely add and subtract, let alone puzzle out the long term benefits to mankind of these missions.... believe me...you're better off siding with the minority on this one. The smart, sciencey folks support the space program...

[Pensioner]

I set my alarm so I could watch the landing this morning, brilliant. Amazing technology, I did think it was over engineered and complicated to succeed but what do I know.

Me thinks that when Faraday was experimenting with magnetism and invented the first electric motor and dynamo folk would have said what a waste of money.

[Atheist-Lite]

I set my alarm so I could watch the landing this morning, brilliant. Amazing technology, I did think it was over engineered and complicated to succeed but what do I know.

Me thinks that when Faraday was experimenting with magnetism and invented the first electric motor and dynamo folk would have said what a waste of money.

It was at the time. The washing machine was yet to be invented. What is the point of the motor without a washing machine?

[Pensioner]

I set my alarm so I could watch the landing this morning, brilliant. Amazing technology, I did think it was over engineered and complicated to succeed but what do I know.

Me thinks that when Faraday was experimenting with magnetism and invented the first electric motor and dynamo folk would have said what a waste of money.

It was at the time. The washing machine was yet to be invented. What is the point of the motor without a washing machine?

Not true. the first washing machines were mechanical without an electric motor, same for the first vacuum cleaners.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

I set my alarm so I could watch the landing this morning, brilliant. Amazing technology, I did think it was over engineered and complicated to succeed but what do I know.

Me thinks that when Faraday was experimenting with magnetism and invented the first electric motor and dynamo folk would have said what a waste of money.

It was at the time. The washing machine was yet to be invented. What is the point of the motor without a washing machine?

Not true. the first washing machines were mechanical without an electric motor, same for the first vacuum cleaners.

Yep. With had a horse-driven mangle and your spin-cycle really did have pedals!

[Atheist-Lite]

They were not real washing machines. The clothes never came clean until the real ones had been invented.

[Pensioner]

They were not real washing machines. The clothes never came clean until the real ones had been invented.

Never lived in a working class area during the 40s and 50s if you think that.

[Atheist-Lite]

They were not real washing machines. The clothes never came clean until the real ones had been invented.

Never lived in a working class area during the 40s and 50s if you think that.

There was always a mucky overtone. The white bleached shirts produced by using real bleach.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

They were not real washing machines. The clothes never came clean until the real ones had been invented.

Never lived in a working class area during the 40s and 50s if you think that.

Or the '60s in certain places in the US. Mom used a wringer-washer out of preference until she started working full time and had to depend on us to do the laundry.

[Pappa]

Proof that life exists elsewhere than on Earth, a waste of money? Fuck that! It ranks second only to an advanced, intelligent race with no concept of religion on my list of kicks in the eye to worn-out, antiquated belief systems!

Plus, if life was found on Mars, it would significantly help our understanding of how life formed and developed here. We don't have a lot to go on because of the paucity of evidence on Earth.

[Atheist-Lite]

Proof that life exists elsewhere than on Earth, a waste of money? Fuck that! It ranks second only to an advanced, intelligent race with no concept of religion on my list of kicks in the eye to worn-out, antiquated belief systems!

Plus, if life was found on Mars, it would significantly help our understanding of how life formed and developed here. We don't have a lot to go on because of the paucity of evidence on Earth.

Does it matter? I've no idea where light comes from but that doesn't mean I want to go explore the surface of the sun. The mistake might be to believe planetary life is common to planets rather than consider those great big clouds of water and chemical yuck in space. That is where life will be common if it is a common universal feature by the law of averages. What people want and what is likely are at variance. I've no doubt in Mars early wet phase life would have evolved, even plant life...but in its complex form it arrived as the sun passed through a cloud...which explains why the planet was inert for so long before suddenly evolution kickstarted up. This might even be verified by fossils of roughly equal age on earth and mars?

[Pensioner]

Proof that life exists elsewhere than on Earth, a waste of money? Fuck that! It ranks second only to an advanced, intelligent race with no concept of religion on my list of kicks in the eye to worn-out, antiquated belief systems!

Plus, if life was found on Mars, it would significantly help our understanding of how life formed and developed here. We don't have a lot to go on because of the paucity of evidence on Earth.

Does it matter? I've no idea where light comes from but that doesn't mean I want to go explore the surface of the sun. The mistake might be to believe planetary life is common to planets rather than consider those great big clouds of water and chemical yuck in space. That is where life will be common if it is a common universal feature by the law of averages. What people want and what is likely are at variance. I've no doubt in Mars early wet phase life would have evolved, even plant
life...but in its complex form it arrived as the sun passed through a cloud...which explains why the planet was inert for so long before suddenly evolution kickstarted up. This might even be verified by fossils of roughly equal age on earth and mars?

Wut?

[Atheist-Lite]

I'm doing the heavy lifting imagination for folks, burning the candle at both ends you might say.

[Seabass]

Would it be a waste of money to send Crumple to Mars?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Does it matter? I've no idea where light comes from but that doesn't mean I want to go explore the surface of the sun. The mistake might be to believe planetary life is common to planets rather than consider those great big clouds of water and chemical yuck in space. That is where life will be common if it is a common universal feature by the law of averages. What people want and what is likely are at variance. I've no doubt in Mars early wet phase life would have evolved, even plant life...but in its complex form it arrived as the sun passed through a cloud...which explains why the planet was inert for so long before suddenly evolution kickstarted up. This might even be verified by fossils of roughly equal age on earth and mars?

It would be a great help to biological sciences, and a boost to the space program.

It would also be a huge slam to creationists, maybe even enough to stop them trying to take over our schools.