Enter Mr. Obama to apply some sense to another fine mess Jr. had gotten US into. Based on recommendations of real scientists (personae non gratae during the GWB years), he made the tough decisions to cancel the Mars vision/mirage, sharply reduce the manned space flights, and concentrate on cheaper but more scientifically valuable projects, such as astrophysics. The screaming from politicians who improbably claim to have been inspired by the manned space program continues. NASA has become about as adept as the Pentagram at spreading contracts thinly across the US in many Congressional districts.
The Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity have already provided huge amounts of information for a tiny fraction of the cost of one shuttle launch (which these days is typically dedicated to repairing some life support system on the space station). They the earned places in a future museum but their recovery and installation can wait. Meanwhile, those inspiring Americans who designed, built, and managed this successful program will take their skills, experience, and spirit to the next opportunity. Robots are invaluable parts of industrial production. They are continually undergoing dramatic improvements. If a robot is destroyed in an industrial accident, or lost in space, or left on a distant planet, nobody cares much. Future industries will develop robots to help in some aspects of jobs such as home health care, some nursing tasks, driving us through traffic more efficiently, etc. Removing some of the purely physical demands from these jobs will free humans to engage more fully in their rewarding aspects.
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