[Mark was here]

We no longer poses the technology to go to the moon. The need for 100% diversity coupled with the need for 100% safety, has put space travel out of reach.

[cripplecreek]

Seems to me that those who really want real space exploration should be quite pleased with Ted Cruz who is chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Science, Space, and Competitiveness (which oversees NASA). Cruz wants NASA to stop screwing around with global warming BS and studying the earth so they can get back on mission.

[TalBlack]

The gods of the strivers in this guys story are nerd tech and math skills. Good luck with that.

[Caipirabob]

How about a challenge to get our nation back from socialists first. I cannot fathom one more massive government project with an unlimited budget while we are 19 billion in debt.

I say NO to this. Fix our government, fix our tax code, eliminate obozocare in favor of free market interstate reforms, force other nations into trade deals that are truly fair and eliminate the ability of foreigners to take jobs away from Americans.

Then I'll care about what happens on Mars. For now EARTH FIRST!

[Flag_This]

"Mars will come to fear my botany powers."

Shouldn't that be "botanical"?

[repentant_pundit]

motivate a generation of young people to see the value of studying math and science

We've been seeing this statement for 40 years. Fat lot of good it did.

Why should American "young people" spend 4 years and $$$ jumping thru all the math hoops, just to see H1B Visa muzzies and other foreigners taking over all U.S. technology jobs for stagnant wages ?

As a former engineer, I saw it happen multiple times and places since 2008.

Continuing the NASA monopoly on space exploration makes no more sense today than it would to have them to run all the airlines.

Bezos and Musk are the today's hope for space travel. And as for scientific research / explorataion, let the universities, billionaires, and private foundations manage and fund it.

.

[Cecily]

NASA needs to figure out how to send sturdy robots to places like Mars to do the initial exploring via remote control - robots that can walk, cover more ground and do more tasks than the Rover.

[ETL]

Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat)
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
From Texas's 18th district

On a visit to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2005, Jackson Lee made embarrassing news by asking if the Mars Pathfinder had taken an image of the flag planted there in 1969 by Neil Armstrong.[2]

Prior to the 110th Congress, Jackson Lee served on the House Science Committee and on the Subcommittee that oversees space policy and NASA.

http://web.archive.org/web/20100409095818/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Jackson_Lee

[Vermont Lt]

For what it costs us a month or two pussy footing around with the Middle East, we could have been to Mars a couple of times. And in the process revolutionized cheap power and other technologies.

But, we are so concerned with keeping the KSA in gold, and exporting their version of Wahhabism.

Seems to me our priorities are a little messed up.

[Impy]

And back? We should leave some people there, I can think of many suited for such a fate. Perhaps L. Graham could serve as Ambassador to the Court of Ming the Merciless.

[Hulka]

“But can we answer such a call again?”

Not when we have muslime outreach as NASA’s primary mission.

[zeestephen]

Re: “The Martian” could motivate a generation of young people to see the value of studying math and science. We remain woefully behind in international tests in science and math...”

This is not serious.

I have never met an exceptional student in the Internet age who needed to be motivated. It's all on the Web, dude. You can study anything on You Tube, and it's usually presented by an excellent teacher.

Math, science, history, literature, business, all of them are their own reward, and every exceptional student knows that intuitively.

As to “woefully behind in international test scores,” once again, get serious.

Most countries cheat, testing only their best students and best schools.

If the USA just tested white, Asian, and Jewish students, we'd be number one.

Instead, we test everybody, including the 40% of 15 year olds who are Black and Hispanic and have huge dropout rates.

Surprise, surprise - we are completely “average” when we test everybody!

[freedomjusticeruleoflaw]

Going to the moon and establishing a colony would be cheaper than a “touchdown and liftoff” on Mars.