To infinity and beyond

The MARSIS radar experiment aboard the ESA's Mars Express satellite will soon be sending very low frequency waves into the Martian surface to detect water or ice deposits--a necessary building block for life on Mars. Such experiments using satellites (and occasionally rovers or robots) have vastly expanded our knowledge of Mars and other planets. For this reason, I see little reason to focus so much at this point on manned space flight. The U.S. space program seems to have been hijacked recently by the political agenda of the Shrub administration which grasps at any opportunity to prove that it really isn't opposed to science. (It is.) We should scrap plans for human space flight and launch more satellites. At the same time, we should be working on the construction of large space-based telescope arrays that could detect distant constellations and planets. Before we invest in manned flights, we should develop the science of developing artificial eco-systems and terraforming--technologies that could have practical application here on earth as we seek to reclaim deserts and other barren areas. After the technological groundwork has been established, we'll be able to begin human flight at a fraction of its current cost.