dtb said:

"Of course, I fully agree with Gary's oft-made point that now that we have a system that has passed two tests, let's just send more MERs."

This is such an obvious thing to do. The Mars science community has become so focused on the unproven (and risky) potential of MSL that they're ignoring the proven capability of what they already have in hand with MER. NASA's top management is currently in turmoil with Sean O'Keefe leaving, the Columbia disaster, RTF, civil service RiFs, etc. Delaying MSL for 4-6 years while fully exploiting MER's technology is an obvious management decision. However top managment is too distracted to make the obvious call.

Gary