re: "I don't know who Tom Matula is"
He makes some very good points. Mars is a long way from Earth and I haven't heard any arguments for going there other then science. Also we have been to the Moon before and it benefited the economy. Maybe we should focus on a return to the Moon before going on to Mars.
Would it really be that big a loss to science if we did use the MRO to better map the Moon? After we already have craft like the Mars Express mapping Mars now. If its true the there is 75% in common between a MRO and a LRO them maybe its a idea worth looking at.