EP wrote: (Support for manned Mars flight) rises when people forget what a worthless rock Mars is, and falls when new probes to Mars show exactly that.

Chris writes: You do know what you state here is the opposite of what happens don't you?

EP: Despite Chris's statement, both poll numbers and government funding levels indicate exactly the relationship which I noted.

Chris: The Mariner 4 showed a Moon like Mars and then we sent two more probes (Mariner 6-7) and they again showed a Moon like Mars and then we sent an orbiter (Mariner 9) and it showed all these channels and volcanos and more craters and then we sent two landers and two orbiters (Viking) all within twelve years from 1964 to the Vikings...

EP: ....and then we entirely stopped sending probes to Mars for more than twol decades, until people forgot what a worthless rock Mars really is.

It was Dan Goldin's leadership, and nothing else, which set all of the current Mars probes in motion, the very same man who Cowing hysterically attacked for several years...

Chris: "During this time period dozens of plans were drafted for manned mission to Mars"

EP: ... at ever decreasing dollar amounts, and all of them less fully engineered than the earlier plans had been.

...

EP: Any finds may lead to increased support for unmanned probles; and indeed, I believe that Mars rovers could be succesffully operated by the private sector on a profit basis. NASA management should be forced to auction one day exclusive media rights to the images returned by MER-A and MER-B.

Chris writes: (An aside. He really doesn't see the logical flaws folks I'm sure of it.)

EP: And as usual, we have these perceptual problems manifesting themselves.

What one needs to appreciate when dealing with the Mars Nuts is that they are so obsessed with manned Mars flight that their perception is hopelessly warped. Thus the "facts" which they base any logical argument on may bear little relationship to reality, and any argument which proceeds from a "real" basis will make little sense to them.

ep