Chris writes: There are many analog environment(s) here on Earth to places on Mars.

EP: There are no close analogs. None, zero, zip.

Chris writes:
WEBB: ... As Levine points out in Managing NASA in the Apollo Era,5 we didn't have a long range plan because we didn't have another mission, such as landing on Mars, because we knew the fact that we were planning one would leak to Congress and cause us to lose the support essential to finish Apollo.

Ed writes: Webb's reluctance was evident in 1964, when Webb refused to reply to Johnson's Science Advisor's Weisner's inquiries about manned Mars missions.

Three different manned Mars configurations were being funded by NASA prior to Mariner -despite Webb's bureaucratic response, one must assume that those engineering studies did indeed constitute a long range plan for NASA.

Earth-like Mars died with the first Mariner images of the surface of Mars, annd so did NASA's manned Mars program. One must ask oneself why did Webb think that the Congress would not approve manned Mars flight?

EP wrote: What the public would like NASA to spend their money on is finding the next asteroid or comet to hit the Earth well before the time it hits -

Chris writes: And you say the folks in the Mars Society are living a fantasy...
The public could careless about your agenda...till some big assed rock hits them on the head most people will worry about Saddam Hussein over asteroid Hasse!

EP: Nice try, no cigar. It's not a question of planetary defense versus terrorism for funding, it's a case of planetary defense versus Mars research.

Just talk with random people about it, without revealing your enthusiam for manned Mars flight. People would like NASA to take care of the impact hazard first. Any truly random poll with an unbiased answer space will show the same thing.

ep

--Chris Vancil