What is the most interesting part of this exchange is that when I brought up the true colors and true geology of Mars , the topic suddenly became everyone's support for NEO search efforts.

$20,000,000 per year is about what it is going to take for a decent ground based NEO observation program, and given the current budget climate, some of the more esoteric Mars studies is about the only place that money can come from. This is not to say that those studies are not valuable, it's just that there are more pressing needs.

Now out of a $13,000,000,000 or so per year in its budget, surely NASA can afford to spend $20,000,000 or so of it for the ground based search. As an alternative, the NASA funded Mars studies could be shut down, and the money transferred to the National Science Foundation so that they could fund the ground based NEO search.

That would still leave the need for a search for 75 meter dark objects at a fair distance out unaccomplished. As this is space based astronomy, it is NASA's responsability.

NASA could simply delay the launch of one of the 2003 rovers for 18 months until 2004.5, that is until they are sure that their design for the Mars rover works. That would free up a launcher.

Also, the cosmologists could simply wait a couple of more years to solve all those mysteries of the universe. Then NASA coudl afford a first small space based telescope for dealing with this problem. Once again, its not that all those studies are not valuable, it's just that there are more pressing needs.

In closing today's little note, let me point out to you all that by the way, Mars in no way resembles the US desert South West.

EP