Just saw Miles O'Brien on CNN telling everyone that NASA's MER mission is going to Mars to look for life. What a crock.

NASA is telling and selling the media people such as MSNBC and CNN among others that the MER rovers are going in search of life. That is an outright lie designed to capitalize on the attenion that the Beagle 2 is mission is getting for really going to Mars to search for life. In fact, NASA never had any intention with MER of looking for life nor solving any of the problems left over by Viking. In truth, hundreds of life detection proposals were submitted to NASA for the MER missions and others -- and all were rejected. Why? The MER rovers are specifically designed as another "Pathfinder" style geology mission. So why say it is going to look for life?

Whenever NASA makes the statement that the MER rovers mission is going to Mars to "search for life", I hope more savy and honest people will call their bluff by asking "just what life detection instruments are onboard the MER rovers?" How will they find life?

How lame can it get? Why not just be honest and say - what Colin Pillinger said about MER "this is just another sight seeing tour."