[FITZ]

I partially agree ---I can see sending robots out there if we want to analyze the soil on Mars for whatever reason we would want to do that, or monkeys like we used to. I don't think there's that much point in sending humans and risking this kind of tragedy. To be honest, I didn't even know there was a manned space shuttle coming in until I read on here it didn't arrive. I feel bad for the people and their families, but I don't even know the purpose of their mission.

[Kip Lange]

A robot could take soil samples. No robot could tell you what it felt like to actually *stand on Mars*; no robot could tell that to schoolchildren when it returned. No robot would have *fun* being on Mars.