Why look for life on Mars when we could be spending the money on something more concrete in space?

Question

such as bringing forward inhabiting the moon.

Hundreds of millions of dollars spent and all we got was Mars used to be wet. Okay, now we know lets push the energy to something that is more to Earth, exploiting our moon for science.

Answer 1

I have a better idea what people should do with all of that money: feed all these hungry people on earth who are starving and dying and don't have a place to live.  Then worry about some moon dust.  

To somewhat answer your question I don't believe that man will ever inhabit the moon or mars or any planet other than Earth for that matter.  It's just a futile experiment.  I believe these quests for the possibility of life or having life on another planet is a way for man to exalt his mind..........It's like you said, "all we got was Mars used to be wet...................." and NASA's point is.................

Answer 2

I agree.  I'll give you a star.  I don't see the point in inhabiting the moon though.  You can go to the middle of Utah if you want to live in that environment.

Answer 3

We've gotten quite a bit more about Mars.  Basically, what we're doing this for, is to build up our knowledge about Mars, so we can actually go there.  A planet is a lot safer as an environment than a spaceship.

Answer 4

The "search for life" is only one of many experiments being conducted.  It just happens to be the one being emphasized by the media (and by NASA's P.R. people).  Those of us who are using the data know that we got a lot more than "Mars used to be wet" (and yes, we did confirm that Mars used to be wet, which is not mundane information in itself).

The Moon is not "inhabitable".  However, we might discover that the Moon used to be wet.  Some of the intrusions in the Moon rocks should only come from a wet environment.  So, we would end up doing the same thing on the Moon as we are on Mars (with a lot less return for the same bucks).

Answer 5

Yes and no.  

The Spirit and Opportunity missions came out of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, in California.  That runs off a slightly different budget than the rest of NASA (it partners with Cal Tech and is almost like a private business).  So it's not really a case of either-or.  Your tax money, for the most part, goes to "regular" NASA, which is following the Moon-Mars-Beyond plan -- meaning they intend to return to the Moon first as a stepping stone to Mars.  

The Crew Exploration Vehicle currently being developed, as well as several other things, are targeted for the moon.  Nevertheless, you should know that while the Moon is easier to get to, from a technical standpoint, it would be harder to colonize.  Mars has a lot more resources and gravity, and even a thin atmosphere that protects from radiation and micrometeorites, so it is more Earthlike and easier to inhabit in the long term than the Moon.

Lastly, the rovers found much more than "Mars used to be wet" -- they found out how to land a 3-axis, 6-degree-of-freedom spacecraft using aerobraking and parachutes.  That's not easy to do, and can't be tested on the Moon (no air).  Many other technical challenges also taught the engineers a LOT.  So it's much more than what the popular press picks up...

Answer 6

Well I agree with you totally about the need to go back to the Moon first and found a permanent colony there.

One of the answers here has already pointed out that the "Search for life" experiments get all the press.  That's mainly because its the only experiment that press corps can understand.  More complex experiments, at least ones that don't involve pretty pictures, go right over their heads. ( Most reporters were hired for how good they look on camera, after all. )

That being said...NASA has a big stake in finding extra-terrestrial life. IF NASA were to do so the following things would happen

1) About 15 min after the announcement was officially made, T-Shirts about it would be on sale on E-Bay.

2) Assuming the experiment was verified....(an important assumption when dealing with NASA) several of the project scientists, and perhaps even NASA as a whole, would be a shoe in for the Nobel Prize... after winning the prize they would then all retire to nice tenured professorships at Ivy League Universities, where, after three years,  they would dump their wives and marry cute blonde undergrads half their age.

Now #2 is the big kicker....think about what this means for the NASA budget...their status just went through the roof.  They would be the people who made the greatest scientific discovery since Og went "Hey Thag...if we rub two sticks together REALLY REALLY fast, we can make fire....".  I strongly suspect NASA would be in for a big budget increase. Congress would just GIVE them Montana so they  could  build the largest radio telescope they could think of, just for starters...and Congress would just give them a blank check for R&D contracts....(which would make Lockheed and Boeing very happy).

Now take that a step further....NASA found LIFE.  IF life is found on Earth, AND somewhere else in the Solar System...well in that case given the size of the Universe, it's pretty likely that there is lots and lots of life out there....some of it no doubt intelligent.  Some of it perhaps even hungry and well armed.

This is where NASA REALLY makes it's money.... within a week there would be calls to form an international UN Earth Defense Force....and lots and lots of money would be thrown at this problem, and many many conferences would be held in places like Bali and Kyoto and Rio (ever notice how those big expensive UN Climate conferences are never held in places like Toadsuck Arkansas, or Upper Volta, or Haiti?). Al Gore would find a way to attend.

Nothing much would get done of course...the UN regards the holding of a conference as an end in itself...but lots of money would get thrown at the problem and lots of people would go to conferences in some of the prettiest spots on Earth, and lots of good looking reporters would all be there to cover it.  Many many UN Earth Defense Force T-Shirts and hats would be sold on E-Bay.

The USAF would request, and probably recieve, a large budget increase...and there would be nasty bureaucratic infighting over wether NASA (and the UN) or the USAF would be in charge of America's part of our planetary defense. The GOP would back the USAF, the Dems would back the UN/Al Gore/NASA team.  Either way some of the the largest aerospace defense contracts in human history would be put out for bid.  In a totally unrelated move Boeing Corp. would promptly attempt to hire every child of every Pentagon Contracting Officer as a "Senior Vice President in Charge of Youth Outreach", and offer to take the entire UN staff out to dinner, every night, for three years.

The State Department would probably line up behind the NASA/UN bid to run planetary defense, and immediately demand a redesign of the UN-NASA-Al Gore Earth Defense Force Seal because it could be seen as being offensive to dyslexic left handed Tagalog speaking Moslems if viewed in the right light with your eyes squinted up real tight, and demand that "Defense" be dropped because it sounded to Xenophobic. Following three conferences at the really good hotel in Bali to discuss the proposals and select the winner, many more T-Shirts with the inoffensive NEW design would be sold on E-Bay.

The Russians would announce that, as they had put the first man in space, this was too important a mission to leave to the Americans alone...they would demand to play a large role in the UN-NASA-Al Gore-State Department Earth Friendship and Outreach Force for the Protection of our United Homeworld.   After resulting in a new logo redsign, a conference in St. Petersburg, more T-Shirts would be sold, (but only the XXL size could get the entire seal on it), and Mikoyan Aerospace being promised a large share of any contracts given out by the Russian/UN-NASA-Al Gore-State Department Earth Friendship and Outreach Team for the Protection of our United Homeworld....

You get the idea.....

In any case, the bottom line is IF NASA were to find life, Congress would start throwing money at them with both hands and a large snow shovel.  It would make the careers of everyone involved...so that is why NASA is pushing it.  It is their bureaucratic version of the "Hail Mary Pass".

Answer 7

Our planet Earth represents for us a possible "single point failure".

Mankind could, in principle, be wiped out completely if any "failure" capable of destroying our fragile echo-system would occur.

The colonization of other solar system planets and beyond is our only possible safeguard to avoid human extinction.

Do you remember what happened to the dinosaurs and hundreds of other species because of a stupid asteroid collision?

By the way, the search for life outside the Earth is of an enormous scientific, philosophic and religious significance. Its discovery will change forever our comprehension of the universe.

Answer 8

How about a concrete highway to the moon so we can drive there?

Answer 9

im wondering if maybe they think life would be easier to sustain on mars as well as inhabit it. They have found evidence of water (and life I think) so my thoughts tell me the atmosphere and the environment on mars may be able to be tapped for resources. of course they can only be sure of this through more research

Answer 10

small things first because think about it what is the point of searching the entire universive when technology is not advanced and mars might be a test on how advanced technoloy is

Answer 11

The possibility of the origins of life on Earth.  As well as looking to see if life out there is possible.

Answer 12

Because discovery is the whole reason for going into space. What do you think a moon base will give us? They are planning to build the moon base so they can cheaply fuel trans-stellar spaceships relatively cheaply using the moon's water deposits. And where do you think those spaceships will be going? Mars...

The moon has always been planned to be the stepping stone to Mars. What good is a stepping stone with no destination. The day will come when space is looked to for natural resources instead of solely knowledge, but that day is a long way off. For now, information about the other planets, our sun, and the formation of the solar system is the only thing probes and manned space flights can give us and I think finding out about our solar systems most interesting aspect (life) should be our highest priority... and save for maybe distant Europa Mars is the best candidate for possible life.

Answer 13

I agree

Answer 14

I have often wondered the same or similar things as you pose in this question. It seems that the money being spent is not yours or mine, and thus we have little say in the spending process.

The same might be asked about the enormous cash flow that keeps the Taliban fighting in Afghanistan, or the conflict continuing in Iraq. Just think how many hungry mouths those funds could serve nourishing meals to...