While I consider MSL to be a logical step in Mars exploration, I have to
wonder if NASA/JPL is trying to do too much too soon with it?

If things go wrong, we will not only have another pile of useless junk on
the surface of Mars, we will have a useless pile of junk on the surface of
Mars with an RTG among the wreckage!

I have no issues with nuclear power, but I do well remember how
certain groups reacted to the RTGs on Cassini a decade ago. A lot
of it came out of ignorant fear of nuclear energy, but since when
did a lack of facts stop anyone. These anti-nuke groups may cause
yet another headache for a program that already has plenty of them.

And with the way things are in the economy, how likely is it that
Congress won't hesitate to slash what the general public will see as
an unnecessary frill like another robot rover to Mars. They won't care
that it will be looking for life, either, as I can hear the cry now of "We
need to spend money for life on THIS planet!"

They got rid of the original Voyager mission to Mars in the late 1960s
when Vietnam and other issues were competing for funds, so I don't
see things changing much now with MSL - it will be even worse, if
anything.

In the 1970s, the Soviets tried to one-up the Viking mission by sending
a sample return probe to Mars. They ended up spending a lot of money
and resources on a project that never got off the ground and killed
several other space projects in the process. I hope MSL does not
become our version of this tragedy.