Comments on: Mars rovers showing signs of age

The Mars rovers are getting creaky. But they have far exceeded expectations and presented evidence of water on the red planet.
Photos: Mars rovers still chugging

[bobby_brady]

Use them until the wheels fall off,

what has NASA got to lose.

[npxzbebq]

Opportunity cost

of the team being focused on the Mars mission instead of other things...

[Jim Hubbard]

Now.....how does this benefit us?

All of this is very nice, but how (exactly) does this benefit human beings on earth?

Does it feed a hungry child? Did it stop a starving child from dying last night or give medicine to and aids patient?

While the novelty and keen science required to attain this goal is not lost on me, I just wonder how much we could have accompliched HERE if those same brilliant minds and funds were brought to bear on global problems like global warming, starvation and disease.

[dingleberry420]

why stop there?

What could we do in the US with the 4 billion spent over in iraq, I bet that could feed a few hungry people.

[WDS2]

How does...

...art feed a hungry child? How does the Internet? How does anything not directly related to growing food?

People need more than mere food to live. They need things to admire and aspire to. They need things to stimulate their imaginations and get them to ask "What if..?". They need things to make them cry and make them cheer and make them proud.

Otherwise we'd still be a bunch of hunter/gatherers living on the plains of Africa.

That's not the point

I also agree that there are many things in this world that need to be fix, but that doesn't mean there are other fields that needs to evolved.

Take sports for instance, there's a lot of money in sports, namely NFL, MLB, World Soccer, etc. and that doesn't mean it has to go until every person of the world has food and cloths.

Our modern society needs a lot of different things: culture, science, entertainment, health, etc. The problem is that there has to be a balanced "world ecosystem" to grow as a just society. There's no point in blaming one field for the lack of attention on others.

[bjbrock]

In the late 1400's, most folks couldn't

understand how funding for three ships to sail off the edge of the world could possibly benefit mankind!

[omellar]

Benefits are many

I am old enough to remember people asking the same thing
about landing on the moon. The cynics pointed out that it was a
p*ssing contest (as someone else has said), part of the arms
race. At least we (Western Hemisphere, I am not American),
spent some money on other things apart from explosives to win
the propaganda war.

As a consequence people became inspired to do great things.
"Space Age" was the definition of the ultimate quality and
technology, and was often invoked in the course of medical or
even agricultural breakthroughs.

America at that time reached its pinnacle of international
inspiration.

"If we can put a Man on the Moon, then why can't we . . . " was a
common expression. And we realised that indeed we could do
anything!

And the spin-offs were substantial, though not immediately
apparent. If it were not for the bold new attitudes of that era, we
would not be having this discussion now! Personal Computers
and the Internet were not even science-fiction fantasy then, now
they provide a platform for social and science discourse, ideas
are enlightened and cancers are being cured every day. All
people are being informed and educated to a depth that could
not have been imagined by fantasists a generation ago.

One of the realisations has been to understand the global
environment, observing and measuring environmental issues.
The damage to the Ozone layer could not have been understood
without the space race, and it is now being reversed based on
that source of evidence.

We need to care for every dying child. We also need to live our
lives without depression or avoiding responsibility, without joy
and pride there will be nothing. If there is anything more
uplifting than reaching for the stars, I would like to hear of it.

[StopThinking4Me]

Sick of whiners.

You can start with yourself.
How many starving people did you feed today? Yesterday? Tomorrow?
Maybe you should get on a plane - which is technology you probably would have questioned or are still questioning the use of - and go help these 'people'. Do you even know who (exactly) is starving and dying? Do you have a name a telephone number or an address? Do you think , gee their smart or gee they have money they should do something. If you are so concerned then you should do something. Simple as that. By the way, didn't Bush give Bono some money for AIDS in Africa??

EOL

[aabcdefghij987654321]

Look at history for your answer

The space industry has spawned thousands of products that improve everyday lives all over the world. Many things needed to get men to such hostile places also solve problems here on earth, the money spent on the space race was some of the best money ever spent by our government.

[maxhodges]

Pissing contest

The whole point of Bush's plan to land on Mars is this: if China lands on the moon, we have to land on Mars to win the pissing contest. That's the real reason why we went to the moon in the first place right? It was a ****** contest with the Russians.

[Xpheyel]

Yeah but...

After we won the Moon Race the Soviet Union crashed and burned!

[technewsjunkie]

Marvelous acheivement these Eveready Bunnies!

Well Done.

[208774626618253979477959487856]

go rover!

http://www.analogstereo.com/mercury_mountaineer_owners_manual.htm