It's too bad the federal government doesn't allow for spending referendums the way municipalities do. If they did, I have a feeling this project would go in the ashcan. I'm not against the idea of a human trip to Mars, if someone wants to fund it privately, but I am not interested in footing the bill for it. It's going to be massively, massively expensive compared to sending drones to gather data. To those who make arguments about the relative value of human colonization compared to automated exploration, I propose they make up the difference out of their own pocket.
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It's too bad the federal government doesn't allow for spending referendums the way municipalities do. If they did, I have a feeling this project would go in the ashcan. I'm not against the idea of a human trip to Mars, if someone wants to fund it privately, but I am not interested in footing the bill for it. It's going to be massively, massively expensive compared to sending drones to gather data. To those who make arguments about the relative value of human colonization compared to automated exploration, I propose they make up the difference out of their own pocket.