The Mars Rover

I'm a fan of space and stars. I also like rockets and telescopes. But come on. The Mars Rover? How does this idea really pay off?

Don't tell me that it will help uncover the mysteries of the universe and solar system. Find me someone that lies awake at night stewing over that question.

The Mars Rover is scraping a giant brown rock for different kinds of dirt. Oh, pardon me, we found some traces of ice and possible signs of life 29 billion years ago.

What are we going to do once we find something spectacular on Mars? Take a picture? Watch some really smart guys at NASA celebrate with wine coolers?

I would rather them build a rover that I can put in my backyard and tell me if there is any crude oil somewhere down there.

Putting a sophisticated machine the size of a Volkswagen on different planets - an incredible technological feat? Yes.

Laying down $800 million to move some rocks around on a different planet? Bad idea.