Statement by Louis Friedman Executive Director, The Planetary Society To U.S. Senate Presented to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation January 28, 2004

"Cost is determined by requirements. The technical steps cited above, and the emplacement of a robotic Mars Outpost, can reduce the cost of sending the humans to Mars. Conversely, Martian exploration will be more expensive if it includes extensive lunar objectives, prohibitively so if they include developing permanent lunar bases or open-ended exploration for speculative lunar resources."

"Much rhetoric and even some of the official statements accompanying the Directive have been confused or misleading on this subject. One even called for launching spacecraft from the Moon into the solar system. There is probably no more expensive way that could be devised to reach Mars."

" The Planetary Society cofounder, Carl Sagan wrote, “There’s plenty of housework to be done here on Earth and our commitment to it must be steadfast. But we’re the kind of species that needs a frontier – for fundamental biological reasons. Every time humanity stretches itself and turns a new corner, it receives a jolt of productive vitality that can carry it for centuries. There is a new world next door. And we know how to get there.” "

"Only at Mars will we begin to learn whether humankind is limited to a single planet; only at Mars will humans be able to investigate the questions of other life. These are the great human purposes for which we send humans to space. The lure of Mars is dramatically revealed by the enormous public interest and excitement that attended the landings of Mars rovers this past month and the presence of five robot emissaries from planet Earth now explorating that alien world. Imagine if those robots were us."

Yes this is from the head of the largest space advocacy organization noted as much for championing robotic missions as human ones.

Regards,
Mark